Moon Beverages Eyes IPO, Invests Rs 4,000 Cr for Growth

New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) Moon Beverages, one of the leading bottlers of Coca-Cola in India and part of MMG Group, is considering an Initial Public Offering (IPO) to accelerate growth and expansion in the country's fast-growing soft drinks market, said a top company official.

MMG Group expects Moon Beverages, a key franchise partner of Coca-Cola, to double its revenue in the next three to four years, helped by growth coming from new plants, expansion of capacity and acquisition of new markets, said its Vice Chairman Anant Agarwal.

Moon Beverages has invested Rs 4,000 crore so far and plans to invest further for its two upcoming plants at Guwahati, Assam and Rourkela in Odisha, which will add up to 7,000 bpm (bottlings per minute) capacity.

When asked as to whether the company plans to go for an IPO, Agarwal told PTI: "This is in our plan. However, we cannot divulge many details as of now."

"We are very bullish on growth for Moon Beverages and the IPO plan sits very well with that ambition," he added.

Though Agarwal did not share the timeline, he said the group is considering the option and is in consultation with various stakeholders.

Currently, Moon Beverages is the third largest bottler of the Coca-Cola company in India after SLMG and Kandhari Global. It has an installed capacity of 10,000 bpm (bottlings per minute).

"We (Moon Beverages) have emerged as a leading bottler and strategic partner for Coca-Cola. With acquisitions and investments in new bottling units, we have seen multi-fold growth over the past 2–3 years," he added.

Agarwal expects the group's bottling business, Moon Beverages, should deliver a 20 per cent year-on-year growth for the next five years. We are extremely confident about the numbers going."

He did not share the revenue numbers, but said he expects to double the topline in the next 3 to 4 years with this rate of growth.

About investments, he said the group is investing substantially to expand its operations and topline.

"In the last four years, we have invested more than Rs 4,000 crore into this business, which would be acquisitions, putting up plants, adding lines, etc. So it is a very heavy capex business. But yes, to double the business in three to four years, we need this constant investment, and we are not shying away," said Agarwal.

Agarwal, who strongly believes in the Indian growth story, said per capita consumption of soft drinks is still very low, which is almost one-tenth of some of the developed markets.

The company currently operates five bottling plants and has plans to add two more, coming at Jharkhand and Odisha in the next couple of years, which will scale up its bottling capacity substantially.

Moon Beverages has recently acquired bottling operations in Jharkhand after Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company, has divested its bottling operations.

"We operate in the regions of north and east. We have a presence in Delhi NCR and western UP, in east India. In east we have presence in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Seven Sisters of the north-east," he said, adding, "So we acquired Western UP in year 2020, and the last couple of years, we acquired the entire West Bengal, north-eastern region and Jharkhand."

Atlanta-based beverage major Coca-Cola is divesting its bottling assets globally as per its asset-light strategy.

Asked whether Moon Beverages would go for much more opportunity for Coca-Cola in other parts of the country or even in the overseas markets, Agarwal said: "Yes absolutely. We are open to acquisitions" as it has grown into this business in more than inorganic way.

"We will be happy to expand our portfolio and the region as much as possible. So that will be done with Coca Cola... and we are open to that," said Agarwal, adding, "We would be happy to go global. I think we have no cons of going global. So when the opportunity is there, we would be more than happy to participate."

Moon Beverages is part of the Agarwal family-owned MMG group, which has interests in sectors ranging from oil & gas to hospitality and real estate, besides in bottling operations.