Tata Global to sell about 20% in international operations

Tata Global Beverage, the world's second-biggest tea group, is talking to several investors to invest in the company's businesses, the company told Reuters on Tuesday.

"To achieve the ambitious growth plans of Tata Global, we are always evaluating options for the best way to invest in innovation, the growth of our brands and acquisitions," the company said in a statement to Reuters.

"No specific proposals have been placed before the board," it added without divulging any further details.

Earlier in the day, the Financial Times had reported the company, which owns brands such as Tetley Tea and Eight O'Clock Coffee, was in talks to sell about 20% in its international operations to a strategic investor and expects to close a deal in the next few months.

"There are quite a large number of strategic players who have come to us. So it's a process of carefully analysing what is a good fit and then moving further down the road," the paper quoted RK Krishna Kumar, Tata Global Beverages' vice-chairman, as saying.

Financial sponsors may be brought on board, but they should be able to "make a contribution to what we set out to do," Kumar told the paper.

Shares of the firm ended 1.13% up at Rs 94.2 in a firm Mumbai market.