Rs 7,000 crore deals: Tata Consumer acquires Capital Foods, Organic India

Tata Consumer Products, the maker of Tata Tea, has announced its acquisition of Capital Foods, the company behind Ching’s Secret and Smith & Jones brands.

The buy, at an enterprise value of Rs 5,100 crore on a no cash, no debt basis, will be carried out in a phased manner, with Tata Consumer acquiring 75 per cent of the shareholding before March 31 and the remaining 25 per cent within three years, the company said in an exchange filing late Friday evening.

In addition to Capital Foods, Tata Consumer’s board of directors also approved the acquisition of Organic India.

The company has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) with Fabindia for an all-cash deal valued at Rs 1,900 crore (on no cash, no debt basis), along with an additional earnout for the shareholders linked to the 2025-26 audited financials of the company.

“Capital Foods has strong umbrella platform brands with a portfolio of unique products for in-home consumption in fast-growing categories. Ching’s Secret is a market leader in Desi Chinese across its product categories — chutneys, blended masalas, sauces, and soups,”

Tata Consumer Products said in its press release.
The company further said Smith & Jones is a fast-growing brand catering to in-home cooking of Italian and other Western cuisines.

Overall, Capital Foods has either Number 1 or Number 2 positions in five large categories, Tata Consumer said, adding the overall size of the categories in which Capital Foods operates in is estimated at Rs 21,400 crore.

“We believe this is a good strategic and financial fit. It will open up significant market opportunities in the fast-growing non-Indian cuisines segment, leveraging the sales and distribution platform that we have built,” Sunil D’Souza, MD & CEO, Tata Consumer Products was quoted as saying in the release.

“The strong brand recall of Ching’s Secret and Smith & Jones, coupled with our operational strength across channels, makes us extremely confident of driving topline growth and realising cost synergies. This transaction will accelerate momentum in our business and is margin accretive to our business.”