Temasek acquires 10% stake in Haldiram Snacks for over ₹8000 cr

Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek has signed a deal to acquire around 10 per cent stake in India’s Haldiram Snacks Pvt Ltd for a little over ₹8,000 crore, sources said.

The deal has materialised after months of wrangling over the pricing and valuation. Several other investors who were also in the fray such as Blackstone and Bain Capital dropped out of it.

Track record

Temasek has the track record of working closely with its portfolio companies to grow them, both organically and inorganically and one of the reasons it came out ahead of the others was due to its track record in the consumer space, said a source privy to the talks.

Temasek declined to comment on the deal while Haldiram Snacks CEO, Krishnan Kumar Chutani said in a text message that he had no comments to offer.

According to sources with close knowledge of developments, Temasek is seen working closely with the current management at Haldiram, which with 12-13 per cent share in snacks, is the market leader in the segment. There would be opportunity for the Indian company to expand into other areas of snacking as well, sources said.

Sources described it as a positive development for both companies, driving profitability and shareholder value.

The deal values the company at over $9 billion and while pricey valuations was one of the points over which the prospective buyers and selling family differed; for Temasek, the price justifies the growth potential that Haldiram has, especially in its position as a market leader that it has occupied for decades, the source said.

Temasek sees it as a “prized asset” the source added, given the upsides that it sees and the snack company’s superior brand positioning.

The Singapore firm’s other investments in the consumer segment include Devyani International, which operates Pizza Hut and KFC outlets in India.