Grupo Bimbo purportedly in talks to expand Indian presence with 'cult bread brand'

Bimbo first gained entry into India with the acquisition of a controlling stake in bakery brand Harvest Gold in 2017.

It is now purportedly in preliminary talks with Everstone to buy a majority share of Everfoods, two people aware of the development told The Economic Times.

Everfoods consists of Modern Bread, which Everstone had acquired from Hindustan Unilever in 2015 along with the bread and bakery business, and other brands such as Cookie Man.

A deal will give Bimbo a far bigger slice of the $8bn Indian bakery market, as Modern Foods was once considered a ‘cult brand’ and ‘the pioneer of branded bread category’ in India with a 40% market share.

It remains a popular choice among local consumers, selling in more than 80,000 outlets across the country and bringing in a revenue of Rs 400 crore ($5.43m).

Everfoods acquired Chennai-based Australian Foods India – which sells fresh baked cookies under the Cookie Man brand – in 2018 for an undisclosed amount.

Investment bank Investec is advising Everstone on the process. Financial details of the transaction is not known. Everstone and Grupo Bimbo declined to comment.

Singapore-headquartered Everstone – founded in 2006 by former Goldman Sachs bankers Sameer Sain and Atul Kapur – currently manages $4bn of assets under management. It also owns F&B Asia Venture, a pan-Asian food services group and operator, Burger King (India and Indonesia) and Domino’s (Indonesia), among others.