Tata Tea to re-enter vitamin water segment

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Kolkata, Aug 10: Tata Tea might have lost Glaceau to Coca-Cola earlier this year, but the domestic tea major’s appetite for the vitamin water segment is still good and the company wants a fresh bid to re-enter it.

“The vitaminised drink business has a global character and we hope we can do it to compensate for the loss of Glaceau,” Ratan Tata told shareholders of Tata Tea in Kolkata on Friday.

Exactly a year back, Tata Tea acquired a 30% stake in US-based Glaceau for $677 million. The company then sold the stake to Coca-Cola earlier this year for $1.2 billion when the majority owner of the company decided to sell.

Tata Tea vice-chairman RK Krishna Kumar told FE the group has pulled out of the deal to acquire Cadbury Schweppes Plc’s US beverages arm, Snapple, as both private equity (PE) firms---one of which partnered with the Tatas---have pulled out of the race. Kumar said that even if the deal had gone through, Tata’s interest will have been minor. Cadbury is reportedly readying for the final bids for its division though at a scaled-down valuation.