-KH News Desk
The kitchen essentials company Gautam Adani owns, Adani Wilmar Ltd., is looking for domestic and international acquisition targets as Asia’s richest man doubles down on expanding his empire’s food operations following Reliance Industries Ltd.’s announcement that it would start a consumer goods company.
“We are looking at acquiring brands in staple foods and distribution companies to boost our consumer goods offering and reach,” Angshu Mallick, chief executive officer and managing director at Adani Wilmar, said in an interview Wednesday. “We are expecting to conclude a couple of acquisitions by March.”
According to Mallick, the business set aside 5 billion rupees ($62.9 million) from its initial public offering for purchases. The 30 billion rupees in planned capital investment for the following year, beginning in April, and internal accruals will provide additional funds, he added. Since its $486 million initial public offering in February, the food company’s shares have more than tripled.
According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the food production business in India is estimated to be worth $400 billion. Conglomerates like the Adani Group and Reliance Industries, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, are competing for a piece of this market.
For an unknown sum, Adani Wilmar recently purchased a number of brands from McCormick Switzerland, including the Kohinoor culinary brand. Adani Wilmar now has exclusive rights to Kohinoor’s ready-to-cook, ready-to-eat curries and dinners in India as a result of the acquisition. The Adani Group has been on a purchasing spree, acquiring 32 firms worth nearly $17 billion over the course of the last year, many of which are outside of its primary coal and infrastructure-related industries.
In August, Reliance Retail Ltd., a Reliance Industries company, announced its entry into the fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG, an industry with the goal of creating and supplying high-quality items at competitive costs.
