The Hindu Business Line : Patak's Indian food for sale

LONDON: The Patak's Indian food empire has been put up for sale with a price tag of £200 million, just months after a bitter family feud over ownership of the company was settled.

Mr Kirit Pathak, who emerged as 100 per cent owner of the business in October last year following a court battle with his two sisters, has appointed Rothschild Bank to "review strategic options for the future development of the business."

Mr Pathak, who runs the company with his wife Ms Meena, the group recipe director and a cookery writer, is looking for either an equity partner or buyer, so that the business has the distribution network and the marketing muscle to compete with the likes of Sharwoods, Premier Foods' Indian food brand.

They believe that Indian food could grow globally in the way similar to Chinese or Italian food. 54-year-old Pathak said, "The growth of Patak's over the past decade has been a remarkable success story. Our goal is to be the world's leading supplier of authentic Indian food and we have exciting plans for the future development of the business".

"We have, therefore, felt it appropriate to retain Rothschild to assist us in reviewing how best to achieve these ambitions," he added.

Patak's makes Indian cooking sauces, curry pastes, chutney, pickles, ready meals, snacks and breads in the UK and it uses distributors to sell in more than 40 countries worldwide, from Australia to Canada. - PTI

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