ITC Ltd is not going to acquire stake in the Café Coffee Day chain since it did not find a fit with its business and also not keen to take on the debt of the coffee chain on its shoulders, two senior industry executives said.
When contacted, an ITC spokesperson said: “ITC receives enquiries from market participants on an ongoing basis which are suitably evaluated. One such enquiry was received from an intermediary on Cafe Coffee Day. However, no progress was made on the matter.”
In a stock market filing, Coffee Day Enterprises said the news about ITC considering to pick stake in Cafe Coffee Day “is factually incorrect and the company is unaware of the said news.”
Incidentally, there has been media reports that ITC along with Coca-Cola Company is vying for a stake in India’s biggest café chain which is reportedly up for sale. The café chain is under pressure to pare borrowings after its founder V.G. Siddhartha took his own life as debt strains began to emerge in his companies.
An executive said while ITC has launched coffee cafes under the Sunbean Gourmet brand name, but those are much more premium than Café Coffee Day and hence there is no fit. ITC currently operates these cafes in its luxury hotels and select malls.
