Mumbai: Mexico’s largest food and bakery company, Grupo Bimbo is in preliminary discussions to acquire a majority stake in Everfoods, the packaged foods platform owned by private equity firm Everstone Capital, two people aware of the development said.
Everfoods predominantly consists of once cult Modern Bread brand that Everstone had acquired from Hindustan Unilever in 2015 along with the bread and bakery business. It also includes other brands such as Cookie Man.
One among the largest baking companies in the world, Grupo Bimbo has presence in 33 countries, selling its 100 plus brands such as Entenmann's, Bimbo, Tia Rosa, Marinela, Barcel, Sara Lee, Oroweat and Arnold Bread. At present, Grupo Bimbo sells bakery brand Harvest Gold in India, which was acquired in 2017 as part of its India entry.
Investment bank Investec is advising Everstone in the sale process. Financial details of the transaction is not known.
Once the deal materialises, the $15-billion Grupo Bimbo will use this platform for a strong foothold in India as Modern Foods has a wide distribution network in the country. Modern Food’s bread and bakery products are manufactured and marketed nationally through a network of over 40 manufacturing plants and more than 80,000 outlets. With a revenue of Rs.400 crore, Modern bread holds about 35-40% market share in Indian bread market.
Modern Foods competes with other bakery brands such as Britannia, Harvest Gold, Nature’s Own and English Oven.