Nestle wants a bite of Yoga Bar

Nestle, the maker of Maggi noodles and Nescafe coffee, has been eyeing small deals in the health and supplement space.
Nestle, the maker of Maggi noodles and Nescafe coffee, has been eyeing small deals in the health and supplement space.

Summary

  • Nestle India Ltd and other investors are in talks to buy a stake in nutritional snacks startup Yoga Bar, sources say.

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI : Nestle India Ltd, the local unit of the world’s largest food company, and other strategic and financial investors are in talks to buy a significant stake in nutritional snacks startup Yoga Bar, at least three people aware of the deal said.

Nestle India has done due diligence, and further talks are on, one of the three said, requesting anonymity.

Yoga Bar, backed by venture capital funds such as Elevation Capital and Fireside Ventures, is being valued at around 450-500 crore, the second person cited above said. “The company has also held talks with private equity firms to raise primary capital of around $20-25 million. Discussions are currently on," the person added.

Nestle, the maker of Maggi noodles and Nescafe coffee, has been eyeing small deals in the health and supplement space. While some of its rivals have been ramping up their portfolio through acquisitions, the Swiss firm has not done any major deals in India recently. However, in July, it acquired the pet foods business of Purina Petcare India for 123.5 crore. Sproutlife Foods Pvt. Ltd, Yoga Bar’s parent, the third person said, has held talks with several consumer firms for a strategic transaction, but a deal fell through because of differences over valuation.

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While a Yoga Bar spokesperson termed the development as “inaccurate", an emailed query to Nestle India went unanswered till press time.

Sproutlife, founded in 2014 by sisters Suhasini Sampath and Anindita, first raised funding from Fireside Ventures in 2015. The venture capital firm, co-founded by former Helion Venture co-founder Kanwaljit Singh, invested $3.3 million in the startup from 2015 to 2018, according to VCCEdge, the data and intelligence platform of VCCircle. Elevation joined Fireside in Yoga Bar’s last equity fundraise, a series C round, in August 2020.

Besides protein bars and muesli, the company also sells peanut butter, whey protein and gluten-free oats.

In June, in its maiden acquisition, Sproutlife bought nutrition-based food company, SuperHealthy, which specializes in premium nuts, seeds and trail mixes.

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