Adani Wilmar Ltd, the company behind the Fortune brand of edible oils, on Tuesday announced acquisition of several brands including the renowned Kohinoor Brand – domestic (India region) from McCormick Switzerland GMBH for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition would give AWL exclusive rights over the brand 'Kohinoor’ basmati rice along with its ‘ready to cook’ and ‘ready to eat’ curries, and meals portfolio under the Kohinoor Brand umbrella in India.
McCormick had invested $115 million to buy 85% stake in Kohinoor Speciality Foods India Pvt. Ltd in 2011 to market and sell Kohinoor’s basmati rice and food products in India.
“This acquisition is in sync with our business strategy to expand our portfolio in the higher margin branded staples and food products segment. We believe the packaged food category is under-penetrated with significant headroom for growth.
The Kohinoor Brand has a strong brand recall and will help accelerate our leadership position in the Food FMCG category,” said Angshu Mallick, CEO and MD at Adani Wilmar.
The Kohinoor brand portfolio comprises of ‘Kohinoor - for premium Basmati rice; ‘Charminar’ - for affordable rice and ‘Trophy’ for HORECA segment.
ADL, which made its debut on bourses in February this year, will leverage the reach of Kohinoor brand to drive synergies for AWL across geographies and complements the reach of its flagship brand ‘Fortune’ in the food FMCG domain.
Established in 1999, the Mallick-led Adani Wilmar is a joint venture between Adani Group and Singapore’s Wilmar.
Adani Wilmar sells a wide array of packaged foods including packaged wheat flour, rice, pulses, beans, sugar, soya chunks and cereals-based products such as ready-to-cook khichdi.
It also offers a diverse range of industry essentials, including oleochemicals, castor oil and its derivatives and de-oiled cakes and HPC category under brand Alife which includes soap, hand wash and hand sanitisers.
