Zydus Cadila has emerged as the front-runner for buying a bouquet of businesses — including children’s energy drink brand Complan — of the Indian unit of American food company Kraft Heinz Co, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Kraft Heinz Co and Zydus Cadila, a unit of Indian drugmaker Cadila Healthcare, are expected to announce the deal, valued between Rs 4,200 crore and Rs 4,600 crore, as early as next week, they said. They asked not to be named.

The acquisition of the Indian assets of Kraft Heinz Co has been fiercely contested. Complan apart, Kraft Heinz India’s consumer business includes popular brands such as Nycil and Glucon-D etc, which together clocked Rs 1,200 crore in sales in the last financial year.

In the last round of bidding, FMCG major Coca-Cola along with a consortium of private equity players had submitted bids. The Tatas and Dabur too were reportedly in the race. In the latest round, potential buyers had bid for different parts of the Kraft Heinz India business.

Kraft Heinz said it had no comment on this story. Zydus Cadila did not respond to CNBC-TV18 queries. Coca-Cola said, "This is pure speculation and as a matter of policy, we do not comment on speculations.”

For its bid, Zydus Cadila has partnered a private equity player to help finance the deal, the people quoted above said. If the deal goes through, Zydus Cadila could look at integrating Kraft Heinz brands with its ‘Zydus Wellness’ portfolio of brands, according to them.

Zydus Wellness has brands such as Everyuth, Sugar Free, Nutralite and Actilife in its portfolio.

First Published:Oct 23, 2018 9:44 PM IST