The Mumbai-based Jyothy Laboratories has decided to exit from the 50:50 joint venture company, Balaji Telebrands, by selling its stake in the venture. The company was forged in 2007 with Ms Ekta Kapoor to market and manufacture products such as agarbattis, camphor, photos and spiritual idols under the brand name Ekta’s. The company was also engaged in the distribution of Ekta’s shanti dhoop.
Speaking to Business Line, Mr M.P. Ramchandran, CMD, Jyothy Laboratories, said, “The concept for which the company was formed did not take off and we have decided to sell our stake in the JV which is no longer operational.” Balaji Telebrands was formed with a capital outlay of Rs 5 lakh.
At the same time, the maker of brands such as Ujala and Maxo is getting ready to forge joint ventures with international companies which are looking at entering the Indian market. “Today, we are open to equity participation with international companies in the household care segment,” added Mr Ramchandran.
Meanwhile, the Rs 451-crore FMCG company is eyeing the services sector and has already made a foray under fabric care by floating a separate subsidiary. It is planning to leverage the equity of its largest selling brand, Ujala, for fabric whitening services. It has also decided to extend its services portfolio by entering the area of pest control services. “There is opportunity in the household insecticide segment and since we already have a brand under Maxo, there is opportunity in pest control. We have to look at ways of growing this segment,” said Mr Ramchandran.
The quest to acquire brands, especially smaller regional ones which fit into its existing product categories and can ride on its distribution chain, is an ongoing exercise. In the past, it had acquired fabric whitening brands such as More Light and Ruby to beef up its volume share in the segment.
Considering Ujala already dominates the fabric whitener category with a value share of almost 75 per cent, the acquired brands in the same category were expected to enhance its volume share which now stands at 58 per cent. “We are looking at acquiring regional brands and then go national with them to get bandwidth,” added Mr K. Ullas Kamath, Deputy Managing Director.
Source: The Hindu Businessline