Hatsun Agro, one of India’s largest private-sector dairy companies, has announced the acquisition of Milk Mantra Dairy for ₹233 crore. This move is part of Hatsun’s strategy to strengthen its presence in Odisha and Eastern India. Following the acquisition, Milk Mantra Dairy will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hatsun Agro.
Milk Mantra Dairy products are well recognized under the brand ‘Milky Moo’, one of the leading brands within the state of Odisha for both milk and value-added dairy products. The acquisition will add ‘Milky Moo’ to Hatsun’s portfolio comprising Arun, IBACO, Hatsun, and Arokya brands.
According to the views of the corporation, this would be a new geographically-expanding strategy while making this investment. Hatsun quoted a release as saying that it believed Milk Mantra’s operations aligned with its structure of business; indeed, business also complements its existing reaches. This takeover would also take the company, Hatsun into markets in the state of North Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal among the neighboring States.
Milk Mantra Dairy reported a turnover of ₹276 crore in FY24, EBITDA of ₹16.1 crore, and net profit of ₹9.78 crore. It was an improvement over FY23’s loss of ₹12.3 crore. The acquisition of Milk Mantra Dairy by Hatsun Agro is seen as a natural step towards expanding the market reach and further consolidating its position in the growing dairy industry of India.
The state of Odisha has been paying more attention to dairy initiatives. It recently proposed including fortified milk in the mid-day meals of school children, which will boost the dairy market in the region further.
India’s dairy industry is still booming, and the other big players are also making their presence in the country felt. Danone, a giant food company in the world, recently announced an investment of €20 million in Punjab to develop a specialized nutrition facility and train 5,000 smallholder dairy farmers in sustainable farming practices over three years.
As the world’s largest milk producer, accounting for almost 23% of its production, India continues to be the hot destination for all sorts of dairy innovations and investments, and deals such as Hatsun’s are going to create further growth opportunities in the sector.
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Source: Moneycontrol
News Desk
