| Bangalore-based Unibic India Private Ltd is being bought over by FMCG giant Marico Ltd headquartered in Mumbai, reported a TV news channel on Friday. | |
| The channel said Marico will pay Rs 130 crore for 51 per cent stake in the privately held company and the deal will be announced by the end of this month.
When contacted, senior officials in Marico and in Unibic did not confirm the news. But a source close to the deal told Deccan Herald that Unibic India is certainly talking to Marico and they are expected to sign the takeover agreement soon. Marico (2009-10 revenue Rs 2,661 crore and net profit Rs 232 crore) is a 17 year old consumer products company with welknown brands like Parachute, Saffola, Nihar, Mediker, Revive etc. Unibic India is a leading cookies company with an estimated sales of around Rs 60 crore in 2010. About 60 per cent of the company’s capital is held by Unibic Australia and an American PE fund holds majority of the remaining 40 per cent. Unibic India’s current MD Nikhil Sen also holds a small stake. Sen may continue to run the company as its chief executive. While the PE fund will sell out its entires stake and Unibic Australia will sell part of its stake. The latter will continue to provide knowhow for all future product developments. The biggest benefit from this acquisition will be the hugely enhanced market reach for Unibic’s products as Marico reaches out to 130 million consumers in about 23 million households through a widespread distribution network of more than 2.5 million outlets in the country. |
Source: Deccan Herald