Jayanti Chauhan To Lead Bisleri, As Tata Consumer Withdraws Acquisition Plan: Report

Jayanti Chauhan, Bisleri International chairman Ramesh Chauhan’s daughter will steer bottled Water Company now that Tata Consumer products Ltd (TCPL) has withdrawn from the acquisition process, as per the ET report. 

The 42 year old, Jayanti Chauhan currently heads as vice chairman of the company that her father builds and promoted. Going further she will be working with the professional management team led by Angelo George. 

Jayanti has been involved with the Bisleri business periodically over the year. The Vedica, part of Besleri’s portfolio, has been her focus in recent years. 

"Jayanti will run the company with our professional team and we do not want to sell the business," Bisleri chairman Ramesh Chauhan told ET.

As per ET report, Tata Consumer called off the deal with India’s biggest bottled water brand, attributing it to ‘indecisiveness’, and there were no differences of valuation, as per the people with the knowledge of the matter. Tata Consumer had begun talks with Bisleri two years ago but decided to call of the negotiations last week. 

Ramesh Chauhan has been keeping indifferent health of late and was looking to find a home for the brand with the same values. He had been keen that Tata take the Bisleri legacy forward. He had agreed to sell the brand to the Tata Group for an estimated Rs 7,000 crore. 

Reportedly, the Tata Group had gone to great lengths to assure Chauhan that Bisleri's legacy would continue under the Tata Group. "But we had to finally call off this fence-sitting," one of the sources told ET.

Sunil D'Souza, Tata Consumer's managing director, stated on recent earnings calls that acquisitions remain a core part of the company's growth strategy. "The company will now focus on building its existing bottled water portfolio of Himalayan, Tata Copper Plus Water and Tata Gluco," one of the executives cited above told ET. 

Apart from Bisleri and spring water Vedica, the Ramesh J-Chauhan-led Bisleri International operates in fizzy drinks as well with brands like Spyci, Limonata, Fonzo and PinaColada. 

Ramesh Chauhan has also created various super brands such as ThumsUp, Gold Spot, Maaza and Limca, which were acquired by the Coca-Cola Company in 1993 when the Atlanta-headquartered company had re-entered the Indian market.