Peepul Capital hires Avendus to sell stake in Unibic Foods

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₹596 crore in FY22. Its profit after tax was at ₹10.8 crore, according to a 22 December report by ratings agency ICRA Ltd. It reported revenues of ₹439 crore in the first seven months FY23, up 32% from a year ago.

“It factors in a steady improvement in the business and financial risk profiles of the company, supported by healthy profitable ramp- up of operations, and increased focus on its premium products. The company reported a steady performance in FY22, with growth of 9.9% in operating income and operating margin of 3.9% vis-à-vis the previous year’s growth of 23.8%," the report said. Unibic Foods was set up by Nikhil Sen, former chief operating officer of Britannia, Unibic Australia’s Michael Quinn and Dhruv Deepak Saxena in 2004 in Bengaluru.

In 2007, Lighthouse bought a 25% stake in the company for around ₹20 crore. Peepul Capital acquired a majority stake in the firm for around ₹100 crore in 2012. Unibic Foods became a fully Indian entity in 2012, following investments from Peepul Capital.

Sen assumed the role of its managing director. Following Sen’s passing in 2019, Unibic appointed Srini Vudayagiri as the director. At that time, Vudayagiri was also a partner at Peepul Capital.

Subsequently, he assumed control of the packaged foods company in 2019. In 2021, Naveen Pandey was named chief executive officer. Vudayagiri has since parted ways with Peepul Capital.

Unibic primarily operates in the premium cookie market. It also sells cream wafers. However, players such as Britannia Ltd, Parle and ITC dominate India’s ₹40,000 crore market.