VARUN BEVERAGES ENTERS ALCOHOL BUSINESS WITH KIVA SPIRITS

Last month

had set up a company called Kiva Spirits and Company Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, that will produce ready-to-drink products, alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and spirits, and allied products. The company has spent decades building an advantage in distribution, manufacturing and execution around PepsiCo's brands. Alcohol will require it to build something it has never really had to build before: consumer demand for its own brands, in a business where state-by-state regulation, licensing and brand equity can matter more than the ability to put another truck on the road. Kiva is now in advanced talks to acquire spirits maker Alcobrew Distilleries India Ltd for an enterprise value of Rs 2,000-2,500 crore. This deal would hand Kiva an established portfolio (whisky brands like White & Blue and Gamber Valley single malt, plus vodka, gin, brandy and rum), two manufacturing units in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, a footprint across roughly 15 states, and India distribution rights to Campari's Old Smuggler Scotch.