Godrej Agrovet (GAVL), a subsidiary of Godrej Industries, has acquired majority stake in Hyderabad-based Creamline Dairy Products for R150 crore. GAVL is an existing shareholder in the company with 26% stake and with this transaction it will own over 51% of Creamline, which owns the Jersey milk brand and other milk-based products.
“We have been shareholders of Creamline since the last 10 years and have seen the company build a highly successful dairy business during this time. As the company embarks on its ambitious future growth plan, we will be able to bring in significant value to the business by helping it develop successful brands and add more value-added products to its current portfolio,” Balram Singh Yadav, MD, Godrej Agrovet, told FE.
“With the latest buy at an enterprise value of R550 crore, we will invest aggressively and double turnover in three to four years,” he added.
GAVL is a diversified agribusiness company with interests in animal feed, oil palm, agri inputs (including agro chemicals), hybrid seeds, and poultry.
Creamline Dairy is a prominent dairy company in south India with significant operations across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Nagpur. The company has very strong farm linkages across the four southern states, which assures it quality milk supply around the year.
The company also operates dedicated “Jersey” milk parlors across southern India. The company, with a capacity of nearly seven lakh litre of milk processing a day, had revenues of R858 crore for the year-ended March, 2015. The company has 29 milk chilling centres of its own and nine belonging to associates. To increase its geographical foot print and fuel its future growth, Creamline is in the process of intensifying its procurement operations in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra and has forayed to setup three processing facilities along with facilities for value-added products.
“As we expand our business, we think Godrej Agrovet will add significant value to our business through their long association with Indian dairy farmers and knowledge on building long lasting brands,” K Bhaskar Reddy, MD, Creamline Dairy said.