Tata Tea buys stake in South African firm
Tata Tea Ltd, the world’s second-largest branded tea maker, said on Thursday it had bought a 33 per cent stake in Joekels Tea Packers, a South African tea blending and packing firm.
Tata Tea said Joekels was the third-largest tea firm in South Africa, with revenues of $5 million and a 5 percent market share. It did not say what the cost of the deal was.
It was the fifth overseas investment by Tata Tea in the last 12 months. In August, its purchase of a 30 percent stake in US-based Energy Brands for $677 million was the biggest-ever foreign investment by a non-state-run Indian firm.
At 0610 GMT, Tata Tea’s shares were up 1.0 per cent at 743.90 rupees, having been as high as 750 rupees, in a firm Mumbai market.
Tata Tea, part of the salt-to-software Tata group, has been investing in branded products to increase profitability while trimming its tea plantation holdings where the returns are low.
It has also expanded into non-tea beverages to increase revenue, and the Energy Brands deal was part of that strategy.
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