Ravi Jaipuria, the promoter of RJ Corp, is keen to acquire PepsiCo’s bottling operations in India that his group doesn’t already own. PepsiCo contributes close to half of the group’s business now. RJ Corp owns the bottling business of PepsiCo in north and east India through listed entity Varun Beverages, which acquired bottling franchises in five more states over the past three-four months.
Currently, the opinion is divided internally on whether the entire bottling operations should be managed by one franchisee or split between different companies.
For aerated drinks, RJ Corp manages the franchisee for PepsiCo products across 20 states and two Union Territories, besides overseas markets such as Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Zambia and Morocco.
In the US and Europe, a majority of PepsiCo’s bottling is run by franchisee partners, with companies increasingly opting to be asset-light.
Also, RJ Corp and Singapore based TWG Tea have announced plans to set up luxury tea parlours in India. RJ Corp group company Devyani International (DIL) had acquired retail and distribution rights for TWG for the Indian and UK markets over a year back.