Brands
Tata Global Beverages looks at wellness segment
KOLKATA: Tata Global Beverages (formerly called Tata Tea) is mulling to explore options of entering into the wellness segment by launching tea for diabetes and cardiac patients. The company with this aims at improving its business.
That apart the beverage company is planning to expand its water portfolio to 10 per cent of its turnover by launching ‘Tata Gluco Plus’ and ‘Tata Water Plus’ stage-by-stage across the country.
“We are actually looking at functional teas as an area of future growth. I think this is a very interesting subject going into the future,” said Tata Global Beverages chairman Cyrus Mistry.
A functional beverage is a non-alcoholic drink and consists of ingredients such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, amino acids or additional raw fruits.
“A number of categories in tea and coffee are still unexplored and the geographic reach continues to give us opportunities,” he said.
He said the philosophy of the company is to invest in new categories and geographies.
On tea price, he said, “Tea prices are volatile, but we are making all emphasis on innovation and improvement in procurement process to minimise the impact of rising tea prices in the future.”
According to Mistry, the water division currently accounts for just one per cent of the company’s turnover. During the last financial year consolidated total revenue of the company stood at Rs 7,819 crore, higher by five per cent as compared to the previous fiscal.
TGBL will continue to invest in NourishCo Beverages, a joint venture with PepsiCo India Holdings, despite it not being profitable in the short-term. “But we see revenue growth from this business significantly,” he emphasised.
The company is also looking at capacity expansion for its premium water brand Himalayan. “We have to invest significantly in building the brands in India and globally,” he said.
Tata Water Plus, a fortified water product was also bought by the Tatas after it signed a 50:50 JV with PepsiCo in the year 2010.
Tata Global has already shifted its headquarters to Mumbai from Kolkata.
Brands
Flipkart completes reverse flip to India ahead of IPO
Walmart-owned e-commerce giant shifts domicile from Singapore to Bengaluru
MUMBAI: Flipkart has completed its restructuring to move its parent company from Singapore back to India, marking a key milestone as the Walmart-owned marketplace prepares for a potential initial public offering on Indian stock exchanges, ET reported, citing people aware of the matter.
The move, often referred to as a “reverse flip”, relocates the company’s legal home to India and aligns its corporate structure more closely with its largest market. It also clears an important regulatory step for Flipkart as it explores listing plans.
As part of the restructuring, several Singapore-based entities have been merged into Flipkart Internet Private Limited, which will now serve as the main holding company for the entire group.
The consolidation brings a number of major businesses directly under the Indian parent company. These include fashion platform Myntra, logistics arm Ekart, travel booking platform Cleartrip, healthcare marketplace Flipkart Health, and fintech venture Super.money.
Under the new structure, global investors including Walmart, Microsoft, SoftBank, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will hold their stakes directly in the Indian entity rather than through an overseas holding company.
The redomiciliation required approval from the Indian government because Chinese technology company Tencent owns around a 5 to 6 per cent stake in Flipkart. Under Press Note 3, investments from countries sharing a land border with India require prior government clearance.
Flipkart had already secured approval from the National Company Law Tribunal in December. With the latest clearance from the central government, the company has now obtained all the regulatory approvals needed to complete the relocation, ET reported earlier.
Flipkart had originally shifted its holding structure to Singapore in 2011 to tap global capital more easily. However, as India’s capital markets have matured, several start-ups have begun returning their domiciles to the country ahead of public listings. Companies such as Razorpay, Groww, and Meesho have taken similar steps.
The company is now expected to move ahead with its IPO preparations and has begun early discussions with merchant bankers. According to people familiar with the matter, Flipkart could file its draft prospectus later this year, setting the stage for what may become one of the most closely watched listings in India’s e-commerce sector.
Flipkart has been majority-owned by Walmart since 2018, when the US retail giant acquired a 77 per cent stake in the company for $16 billion in one of the largest e-commerce deals globally.
