Haldiram Prabhuji, a faction of the Haldiram group which caters to eastern India, has acquired two brands from Everstone Capital backed Pan India Food Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
VCCircle was the first to report the development in April this year that Haldiram was in talks with Pan India Food Solutions, which operates under the brand Blue Foods, to acquire its franchisee businesses of several brands.
Haldiram is said to have taken over beverage chain The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and ice cream parlour Gelato Italiano.
Haldiram Prabhuji’s finance head Anand Bardia had earlier confirmed the talks revolving around the deal.
On paper, Haldiram has acquired all the associated brands under the Pan India Food Solutions umbrella such as Spaghetti Kitchen, Spoon, Food Talk, and Noodle Bar. However, The Coffee Bean and Gelato Italiano are said to be only operational and minting money for the entity.
Everstone had sold another brand, Bombay Blue, to Yellow Tie Hospitality Management earlier this year.
Overall, the snacks maker has acquired 90 stores of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Gelato Italiano across west, south and north India.
Haldiram Prabhuji owns 13 restaurants in eastern India. While the firm has previously acquired land parcels, this is the first time it has acquired a food business with a view to expanding its product portfolio. With this deal, it will enter the premium retail business.
Haldiram Prabhuji feels that coffee and ice-cream are growing categories in India and the acquisition will help it enter new product categories and get new customers. In addition, it will also give Haldiram Prabhuji a pan-India presence.
Haldiram’s bets, peers
Besides Prabhuji, another Haldiram faction has struck several inorganic bets in the past to enter new verticals or markets.
Haldiram India, which specialises in ethnic sweets and snacks, recently bought Lamba Food Products, which markets its products under the brand ‘Babaji’. This was its third known acquisition till date. Last October, it had acquired Delhi-based Dreamcann Foods Pvt. Ltd, which markets its products under the brand Whole Foods. In 2016, it purchased Indore-based Aakash Namkeen to mark its first inorganic growth play.
Other snacks companies have also made acquisitions, listed on the stock market or raised fresh funding over the past few years.
Prataap Snacks Ltd, which makes Yellow Diamond chips, said in August 2018 that it would acquire a majority stake in Gujarat-based snacks maker Avadh Snacks Pvt Ltd.
Sequoia Capital-backed Prataap Snacks had made its debut on the stock markets in October 2017.
