Britannia Industries and French cheese manufacturer Bel SA have formed a joint venture (JV) to develop, produce, market, distribute, trade, and sell cheese products in India and other countries.
For Rs 262 crore, Bel will purchase a 49 percent ownership in Britannia’s wholly owned subsidiary BDPL (Britannia Dairy Private Limited), after which the company will change its name to “Britannia Bel Foods Private Limited.” The JV has a 20-year lock-in period starting on the day it becomes effective for both sides.
The JV’s new plant in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra, would be used to manufacture the cheese products.
Abhishek Sinha, chief business officer of the dairy business of Britannia is named as the CEO of the JV.
“The facility is backward-integrated to collect milk from local farmers in the region. The products will be co-branded using the trademarks “Britannia” and “The Laughing Cow” and will be introduced in innovative formats, to ride on the fast-growing cheese category in the country,’ the company said in the release.
