London-based India-focused investment firm WestBridge Capital is all set to acquire a minority stake in Tamil Nadu (TN)-headquartered dairy products firm Milky Mist. Sources said, that the firm is in the final stage of talks to close the deal with the dairy company.
Multiple reports confirmed that WestBridge is likely to invest Rs 800 crore. The deal will value Milky Mist at Rs 7,000 crore.
“The negotiations which were on since last year are now through, and WestBridge is closing in on all the last bits of formalities. It has exclusivity on the deal, and in another few weeks, the financing will be made official,” a person, aware of the development, told the Economic Times (ET).
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Through this deal, WestBridge will get a chance to mark its foray into the growth-stage area. It has backed companies like Rapido and PhysicsWallah till now.
Founded by T Sathish Kumar, Milky Mist has claimed to procure 6,00,000 liters of milk each day from 60,000 farmers. Prior to WestBridge, it also tried to bag investments from venture capital and private equity firms. However, the company failed to grab anything. Till date, it has not received any institutional investment.
“We are exploring fundraising and are in talks with multiple companies but have not yet finalised any particular suitor," said K Rantham, the chief executive officer of Milky Mist, addressing the situation.
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