Tata Global to sell 20% in intl operations: report

Tata Global Beverages, which sells tea brands like Tata Tea and Tetley, is reportedly planning to sell about "20% stake in its international operations to strategic investor".

The company, which has partnerships with beverages groups PepsiCo and Starbucks, expects to conclude a deal in the next few months, the Financial Times reported quoting Tata Global Beverages Vice-Chairman RK Krishna Kumar.

The move comes after Tata Global Beverages failed to nail a deal with private equity, the report said.

"There are quite a large number of strategic players who have come to us. So it's a process of carefully analysing what is good for us and moving further down the road," he said.

Kumar was quoted as saying that financial sponsors may yet be brought on board but they should be able to "make a contribution to what we set out to be".

The paper reported that the Tata Group firm has built a $1 billion war chest following the disposal of its 30% stake in vitamin water maker Glaceau to Coca-Cola in 2007.

"The main purpose of that cash is to have a war chest for acquisitions, and there are a sizeable number [of possibilities]," Kumar said.

"We are scanning opportunities across the world, particularly in the US," he was quoted as saying, adding that the search went beyond beverages.

The company is keen to expand both internationally and to broaden its product portfolio. As part of this, in the past year it established the alliances with soft drinks and snacks group Pepsico and Starbucks, coffee chain and it is keen to further exploit these partnerships, the paper said.

"There might be other opportunities to make acquisitions of products and companies that have scale, and we are on the lookout for that," Kumar said.