Bain Capital has teamed up with Singapore’s Temasek to compete with Blackstone-led consortium for a controlling stake in Haldiram Snacks Food Pvt Ltd as large buyout funds vie for what could be the largest private equity acquisition in India so far.The Bain and Temasek combination submitted a non-binding offer late last week valuing India’s largest snack and convenience foods company at $8-8.5 billion (Rs 66,400-70,500 crore), after initially engaging with the founding family of the 87-yearold brand separately, said people aware of the matter.ET was first to report on May 14 that Blackstone, the world’s largest private equity fund, had teamed up with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC for a bid to acquire up to 76% of the company.Temasek is a limited partner in Bain’s global funds, as are ADIA and GIC. Last November, Bain completed the final close of its fifth panAsia private equity fund at $7.1 billion, its largest for the region, exceeding its target by 40%.110157193Bain was intermittently engaged in bilateral discussions with the Nagpur and Delhi factions of the Agarwal family that runs Haldiram to buy into the company over the last seven months as the group was finalising a pan-India restructuring plan. The discussions that picked up toward the end of 2023, along with factory visits and management meetings, were more focussed on a minority investment. But the founding family is now willing to offload a majority stake after merging its snacks business and hiving off its restaurant chain into a separate company that it will retain. The next generation of the Agarwal clan wants to pursue other interests.The suitors as well as the Haldiram family are aiming to time the transaction to coincide with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved merger that’s expected in the next three-four months. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had approved the merger plan last April.Depending on the final stake on offer and valuation, Bain may rope in other LPs and partners and form bigger consortiums, something that Blackstone may also do. “But both are clear that they want a change in management control,” said one of the persons cited.This is the first time Bain and Temasek are working together on a deal in India. In the past, Bain has often teamed up with GIC for coinvestments.Bain and Temasek declined to comment.Haldiram CEO KK Chutani told ET, “The company has no comments to offer.”Chutani, former chief executive of Dabur International, was appointed CEO of Haldiram last summer, putting a professional at its helm for the first time.The submission of nonbinding bids doesn’t mean final negotiations will be successful, said people involved in the transaction on condition of anonymity.Mint first reported on May 7 that Bain and Temasek are competing to buy a majority stake in Haldiram Snacks.“The biggest problem in this transaction is the size and the premium expectation by the Agarwal family,” said a PE executive who had evaluated the deal but passed on it.
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