Tata group is looking to acquire Hector Beverages Pvt. Ltd, which sells its products under the Paper Boat brand, a financial daily reported.
According to The Economic Times, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran is looking to diversify and strengthen the product portfolio of Tata Global Beverages Ltd and make it “a holistic food and beverage company”.
One unnamed person told the business daily that Paper Boat is one of the brands the company is keen on because it has already created significant brand equity. Tata Global is looking to venture into sectors such as dairy, beverages and healthy ethnic snacks.
Founded in 2009, Hector Beverages had entered the market with the Tzinga brand of energy drink. In 2013, it came up with the more successful Paper Boat brand. It posted revenues of Rs 74.7 crore and net losses of Rs 78.3 crore in 2016-17, according to VCCEdge, the data research platform of News Corp VCCircle.
The company is backed by Catamaran Ventures, Footprint Ventures, Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital and Sofina.
Atria IPO
High-speed broadband services provider Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt. Ltd is planning an initial share of sales to raise Rs 1,500-2,000 crore, Mint reported citing two people.
The proposed IPO may include both primary and secondary sale of shares. Private equity investors TA Associates has a 37.3% stake in the company, while True North holds a 56.4% stake.
Atria Convergence, which provides fibernet, digital TV and HDTV services across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, has hired investment bankers to run the IPO process, the report added.
Ebix-Educomp deal
US-based software company Ebix Inc. may be leading the race to acquire debt-laden ed-tech startup Educomp Solutions Ltd, ET reported.
With the company’s debt at Rs 3,000 crore, the National Company Law Tribunal had earlier ordered a corporate insolvency resolution process against Educomp Solutions.
According to the report, Ebix’s bid of Rs 325 crore is higher than that of Boundary Holdings, the family office of former Educomp director Rajat Khare. The committee of creditors is expected to meet on 17 February to take a final call on the bids.
