Standard Chartered PE has invested R165 Cr ($32 Mn) in PepsiCo bottler Varun Beverages (International) Limited in a follow-on round.
The funds will be used to buyout Pepsi’s minority stake in its subsidiary, Varun Beverages Ltd. and the Indian beverage business will come under the VBIL umbrella.
The PE firm had invested around $50 Mn in VBIL last year in July for boosting growth in beverages business in India and overseas and also another group company Devyani International had received R250 Cr for 10% stake from ICICI Venture in May that year.
The company is promoted by the RJ Corp. group which comprises diversified business interests ranging from beverages, fast food restaurants, ice creams & dairy products, breweries, education, health care and hospitality.
It is engaged in the business of bottling, distribution and marketing of soft drink beverages, sold under the trademarks owned by PepsiCo Inc., U.S.
India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Morocco are the operational markets of VBIL and its subsidiaries.
The company had earlier planned for an IPO in 2014.
In addition to VBIL, over the last 18 months, Standard Chartered India has invested in GMR Airports, Redington, Greenko, Privi Organics, Bush Foods, Innoventive Industries, Karaikal Port, Craftsman Automation, and INOX India.
