Kyndal to set up JV with Lucas Bols

Kyndal India, the Rs 50 crore alcoholic beverages distributor in India for some of the global brands, is setting up an equal joint venture with Amsterdam-based $150 million Lucas Bols which owns the renowned liquer brand Bols.

This joint venture will involve bottling a range of brandy and liquer products from the stables of Lucas Bols in addition to distribution and marketing of these brands.

Siddharth Banerji, MD, Kyndal India said they are looking at tying up capacities for distilling brands with a couple of players in Karnataka and hope to have a fix on this pretty soon.

"We are basically marketers and we do not want to invest in distilleries. There is enough capacity in India and we will outsource it to them," he said.

Kyndal India, which also sells Absolut Vodka, Remy Martin, Cointreau besides a few other global luxury brands, is starting to build on this platform to establish itself in the growing wine business in India.

"We are starting to expand our wine presence with our own brand in India and a few neighbouring Asian countries and we intend to grow this substantially," Banerji added.

According to him, Kyndal sells products worth close to Rs 150 crore on a yearly basis and is witnessing good growth.

"As the market for luxury brands grows, so will our commission. Once our wine business grows to a decent level, we might look at private equity investors for further expansion," he said.