After Selling Thums Up To Coca-Cola, Ramesh Chauhan To Now Sell Bisleri To Tata Group For Rs 7,000 Crore

Almost 30 years after selling soft drink brands Thums Up, Gold Spot and Limca to beverage giant Coca-Cola in 1993, 82-year-old Ramesh Chauhan has cracked another massive deal.

The Chairman of Bisleri International is set to sell India¡¯s largest packaged drinking water company to Tata group¡¯s FMCG arm Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL), for an estimated Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 crore.

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82-year-old Chauhan, whose health has not been too well in recent times, says he doesn't have a successor to take Bisleri to the next level of expansion. Daughter Jayanti isn't too keen on the business, he said, as per ET.

Why Tata Group Was Chosen

The Tata Group "will nurture and take care of it even better," although selling Bisleri was still a "painful" decision, Bisleri¡¯s chairman Chauhan said. "I like the Tata culture of values and integrity and hence made up my mind despite the aggression shown by other interested buyers."

Talks with the Tata group have been going on for two years and Chauhan made up his mind after meeting Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and Tata Consumer CEO Sunil D'Souza a few months back. "I like them. They are good guys," he said, as per the report.

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As far as his stakes are concerned, Chauhan doesn't see any point in holding minority stakes in the iconic water brand after selling the business. "What will I do with it when I am not running the show?" he said.

After exiting the bottled water business through Bisleri¡¯s acquisition by Tata, Chauhan intends to refocus and invest in environmental and charitable causes such as water harvesting, plastic recycling and helping the poor get medical treatment.

At present, Tata Consumer sells packaged mineral water under the Himalayan brand as well as Tata Copper Plus Water and Tata Gluco+. And with the acquisition of Bisleri, the deal can catapult Tata¡¯s FMCG arm to No. 1 in the segment, the report mentioned.

Also Read: Tata Group To Merge All Its Airlines Into Air India

The Thums Up-Coca Cola Deal

In 1993, Coca-Cola bought the entire portfolio of aerated drinks from Ramesh Chauhan and his brother Prakash. Besides Thums Up and Limca, other brands such as Citra, RimZim and Maaza were also included in the deal.

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It was in 1977 when Ramesh Chauhan along with his brother Prakash Chauhan and the then Parle CEO Bhanu Vakil launched Thums Up as their flagship beverage. When Coca-Cola re-entered India in 1993 in its second stint in the country, Parle sold Thums Up, Limca and Gold Spot to Coca-Cola for around $60 million, as per various media reports. Thums Up had an 85% market share at the time it was sold.

Thumbs Up Still The Winner

Even after nearly 30 years of the acquisition, Thums Up still has a higher market share than Coca-Cola, the company which bought it in 1993. Even as recently as in September 2022, Thumbs Up, which dominates the Rs 50,000-crore packaged carbonated soft drinks market in the country, as per the ET report, hit a decade-high market share of 20%. It has continuously remained ahead of global brands including Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

Last year, Thums Up crossed $1 billion in annual sales in India, and still remains the only brand in Coca-Cola India's portfolio to cross $1 billion in sales

¡°Tata Deal Not Only About Money¡±

Bisleri Chairman Chauhan said the deal wasn't just about the money. "Even I don't know what I will do with it (the money) but let me make it clear. It was not just the value I am getting for it, I was more anxious to find a home that would look after it as I did. This is a business I have built with passion and it is now run by equally passionate employees," he said.

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As per the report, Chauhan has handed over day-to-day management to a professional team headed by CEO Angelo George.

Chauhan said the Bisleri brand's turnover for FY23 is estimated at Rs 2,500 crore with a profit of Rs 220 crore. Available numbers for the year ended March 2021, which was marked by Covid, show income from sales at Rs 1,181.7 crore and profit of Rs 95 crore, according to business intelligence platform Tofler, compared with revenue of Rs 1,472 crore and profit of Rs 100 crore for the year ended March 2020.

How The Iconic Brand Of Bisleri Was Born

The iconic brand Bisleri was founded by an Italian businessman, inventor and chemist Signor Felice Bisleri on November 20, 1851, in Verolanuova, Italy. At first, Felice Bisleri developed Bisleri with the intention of an alcohol remedy that is made up of cinchona, herbs and iron salts.

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Dr Rossi, who was a family doctor and close family friend of Felice Bisleri, became the owner of the Bisleri company after the demise of Felice Bisleri on September 17, 1921.

Dr. Rossi's friend¡¯s son Khushroo Suntook, who was a lawyer, played an important role in establishing a Bisleri in India.

At a time when India had just become independent and the demand for new types of business was increasing, Rossi's mind had discovered a business idea. He thought that the water business could be very successful in the coming days. However, it's hard to believe because water availability during that time was very easy but many still struggled for clean and mineral water hence, Dr Rossi started working on his business plan at the root level and also took support from Khushroo Suntook.

Rossi's idea took off in 1965. This was the year when Khushroo Suntook established the first 'Bisleri Water Plant' in Thane, ??Mumbai. Although, Rossi and Suntook were declared 'crazy' because during that time selling water in India was nothing less than madness, they continued to work on their plans to produce bottled water.

Then, the news of Khushroo Suntook selling the Bisleri company spread like wildfire in the Indian business world and reached the 'Chauhan Brothers', the masterminds of 'Parle Company'. Just four years after the start of the Bisleri water plant in Thane, Ramesh Chauhan bought Bisleri for just Rs 4 lakh in 1969.

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Parle¡¯s acquisition of Bisleri gradually led to the expansion of the business into various products and markets, including beverages, soft drinks and soda.

Bisleri's Marketing Strategy Sets It Apart

Over the decades, Bisleri has adopted several forms of promotional activities from advertising on television, print forms to personal selling and usage of billboards, posters and hoardings. The brand also has a complete website detailing its various products.

The different campaigns Bisleri has initiated have given the brand a great deal of exposure and a unique identity. Notable campaigns over the years include the ¡®one nation, one water¡¯ where labelling was done in different languages to connect with people from different regions; ¡®Har Pani ki bottle Bisleri Nahi¡¯ where they promote the idea that not all water is pure and hygienic like Bisleri.

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And today, Bisleri is available almost everywhere in the country, and now this Rs 7,000 crore acquisition by the prestigious Tata group is expected to further flourish the brand in the coming years.

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