Capital Foods sale: Nestle, ITC in last lap, deal at up to 15k cr

Food giants Nestle India Ltd and ITC Ltd have emerged as the finalists in the race for leading ingredient maker Capital Foods Pvt. Ltd, two people aware of the matter said. A deal may value the maker of Ching’s Secret and Smith & Jones food ingredients between ₹4,000 crore and ₹5,000 crore, they said.

-  Anirudh Laskar

 

“Nestle’s bid is the highest. ITC’s bid is very close to that," one of the two people said on condition of anonymity.

For several months, Swiss multinational Nestle SA, the world’s largest food company, has been in talks with Mumbai-based Capital Foods, which makes popular Chinese food ingredients. The company, which claims to be India’s largest culinary food ingredient maker, has also seen interest from marquee names such as Kraft Heinz, ITC, Hindustan Unilever Ltd and Tata Consumer Products.

“We do not comment on rumours and speculations," a Nestlé India spokesperson said in response to a query. “We do not comment on market speculation," an ITC spokesperson responded. An email sent to Capital Foods remained unanswered.

The person cited earlier said homegrown conglomerate ITC has valued Capital Foods around ₹4,000 crore, while Nestle’s bid values it between ₹4,000 crore and ₹5,000 crore. The discussions are at an advanced stage, and an acquisition is likely to be announced within a month.