French dairy major Lactalis looking for acquisitions in north India

Lactalis bagged the dairy products business of Prabhat Dairy for Rs 1,700 crore.

France's Lactalis plans acquisitions in northern India after bagging the dairy products business of Prabhat Dairy for Rs 1,700 crore and two other companies.

The three acquisitions enabled Lactalis to do business in south, central and western India through and it wants to be in the north next, said Rahul Kumar, chief executive officer of Lactalis India.

Lactalis first acquired Thirumala Milk Products Pvt Ltd, which has a strong presence in South India, in 2014 and then bought Anik in 2016.

In January 2019, the company announced it had acquired Maharashtra's Prabhat Dairy. Lactalis has dairy plants in India and manages 1.5 million litres of milk every day.

"We are looking at further acquisitions, to expand our presence in the country. We have presence in South and West now, but we do not have presence in North India," said Kumar, while speaking the reporters in the sidelines of launch of Thirumala Milk's fortified fresh toned milk targeting children.

However, he did not comment on the size of acquisitions the company might be looking at. 

Kumar said that Thirumala Milk Products contributes around Rs 1900 crore, of which 80 per cent is from liquid milk sales while the rest is from products, Prabhat will contribute around Rs 1500 crore, of which 80 per cent is dairy products. Anik contributes around Rs 600 crore, of which 50 per cent is liquid milk sales while the rest is dairy products. The company said that with the Prabhat acquisition the company is moving towards becoming the largest private sector player in the segment.