Bikanervala in talks with Private Equity funds to raise up to 30 million USD

Bikanervala Foods Pvt. Ltd, which sells Indian sweets and savouries under the brand Bikano, has initiated discussions with private equity funds to raise as much as Rs.200 crore [PP: about 30 million USD], said two people familiar with the development.

“It (Bikanervala) is in the market to raise funds to the tune of Rs.200 crore . The promoters want to dilute a minority stake in the company,” said one of the two, requesting anonymity as the talks are private.

The company has hired investment banking firm IDFC Bank to advise it. A spokesperson for IDFC Bank declined comment. A spokesperson for Bikanervala, and Shyam Aggarwal, managing director of the company, did not respond to emails seeking comment.

Bikanervala started off selling Indian snacks but has, over the years, expanded its offerings to include beverages, cookies and papad.

The company has five plants in New Delhi, Greater Noida on the outskirts of the capital and Rai (Haryana). Apart from selling its products in India, it exports to countries across Asia, Europe, Africa, and to Australia, and the US.

Bikanervala plans to invest the money in its packaged foods business, said the second person cited above.

“It has two lines of business—the packaged foods business under which it sells snacks, sweets and other products and the store-cum-restaurant business under the Bikanervala brand. The fund-raising activity that the company is undertaking is for the packaged foods business; it wants to invest to expand the product portfolio and distribution network,” he said, adding that the packaged foods business was slightly bigger than the store/restaurant one.