France's Le Groupe Lactalis SA has reportedly bought out Hyderabad-based Tirumala Milk Products for $275 million (INR1,750 crore). Lactalis is the world's largest dairy group.
Economic Times, citing sources, said that Lactalis bought the 74% stake held by Tirumala Milk's founders and the remaining 26% from American private equity firm Carlyle Group LP.
Tirumala Milk is the second-largest milk supplier in south India. It clocked INR1,427 crore in sales in the last fiscal year. Tirumala Milk's processing units across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have a cumulative capacity of 1.2 million litres a day, the report said.
Carlyle had invested $22 million in Tirumala in May 2010, valuing the company at $85 million. The private equity firm made a three-fold return with a net profit of $50 million, Economic Times said.
The report, quoting a Tirumala executive, said that family-owned Lactalis signed the deal on Tuesday and will soon make the transaction public. Swiss banking group Edmond de Rothschild Group advised Lactalis on the deal, while British investment bank Barclays PLC advised Tirumala Milk.
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