Kishore Biyani buys Grasim's personal care brands

The deal, while a slump sale, boosts his personal, home care biz

Future Consumer, the food and consumer goods arm of the Kishore-Biyani-led Future group, on Monday said it had agreed to acquire the personal care business of Grasim.

The business, which has a turnover of close to Rs 10 crore a year, includes Kara wet wipes and allied products such as Puretta, Handys, and Prim.

The transaction is expected to be completed next month, the companies said in a filing to stock exchanges.

Grasim said the transaction was a slump sale. The deal is expected to boost the Future group's personal and home care businesses, which include brands such as Sach, Clean Mate, and Care Mate.

Biyani hopes to take his food and consumer goods business to Rs 20,000 crore by 2020 from Rs 1,000 crore now, making it a key vertical in his retail group. He proposes to do this by getting manufacturing in place, which is missing in his portfolio.

"We run one of the most modern distribution centres in the country. We have one of the best express fleets. We are in the process of acquiring a cold-chain logistics provider. We already own retail stores. What was left was our manufacturing. The food parks are a step in that direction," he had earlier told the Business Standard.

The group is setting up three food parks in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal. These will process and package food products that the Future group will sell through its retail chains.

While food gives the group the bulk of its revenue in consumer goods, Biyani, often described as the country's retail king, wants to improve revenue from consumer goods to make his portfolio well-rounded. The latest acquisition is a step in that direction, with the group likely to consider more such buys.