Tata Beverages eyes acquisitions in US

Tata Beverages (formerly Tata Tea) is eyeing acquisitions in the US and Eastern Europe besides drawing up plans to expand its product portfolio beyond its core tea and coffee, a senior company official said.

Besides a strong focus on the domestic market, the Tata group company also plans to strengthen its presence in the overseas markets of the US, Middle-East and Russia, the official said.

"Our strategy to go forward is to build a portfolio beyond tea and coffee and expand on our new products. We plan to strengthen our presence in the US, Middle-East and Russia. Acquisitions in eastern Europe and the US are also on our radar," the company's CFO L Krishna Kumar told PTI here.

The company is aiming at enhancing its global portfolio and hence is looking at acquisition opportunities across the globe, he said, by adding, "However, there is nothing immediate on the horizon."

One key pillar of its growth strategy would be to focus strongly on strong tea-consuming geographies, such as Russia and the US, he said.

"Russia is a good example and a very important market for us, where, through our subsidiary we acquired a 51 per cent stake in the consolidated group of Suntyco Holding, a beverage company, to help us establish a foothold in the region," he said.