After years of deliberation, one of the world’s largest packaged beverages maker The Coca-Cola Company managed to find a taker for its remaining bottling operations in India. The Noida-based Jubilant Bhartia Group with diversified interests across industries like food services, pharmaceuticals and agri-business, among others, has decided to pick up 40% stake in the bottling arm of Coca-Cola India for close to Rs 12,000 crore.

The agreement—between a newly formed group entity, Jubilant Beverages, and Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Holding company (the parent entity of Coke’s India bottling arm, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd. or HCCB)—marks Jubilant Bhartia Group’s entry into the country’s branded beverages market. The move may prove costly for Coke’s arch-rival PepsiCo in India. 

The Bhartia family-promoted Jubilant Group runs one of the largest quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains in India under the popular US-based pizza chain Domino’s. With over 2,000 outlets across 421 cities in India, Domino’s under Jubilant FoodWorks is the largest franchise in the space. 

While currently, it serves beverages like Pepsi Cola, Mountain Dew and Mirinda from PepsiCo’s stable across its outlets, with Jubilant taking ownership of Coke’s India bottling arm, consumer may soon witness Coca-Cola and Sprite replacing its rival brands in Domino’s menu in India – closing an avenue of business for PepsiCo in the country.

According to sources, with Jubilant Beverages preparing to pick up its stake in HCCB, the change in offering is a matter of time now. “Moreover, the roll out is expected to be swift across Jubilant Group’s QSR brand outlets as inter-group synergies will come in play here,” says a senior executive privy to the developments. Apart from Domino’s, the Jubilant Bhartia Group runs multiple outlets under popular QSR brands Popeyes – a Miami (US)-based restaurant chain known for its chicken sandwiches and tenders. Together, with Dunkin’ and Hong’s Kitchen, Jubilant operated 2,793 stores at the end of FY24.

The deal is expected to further boost Coke’s fortunes in India as Jubilant now plans to double its Domino’s outlet count to 4,000 by 2030. According to Art D’Elia, Executive Vice President for international business at Domino’s, India is already the largest market for the brand outside of the US in terms of operational stores and among top five in terms of revenue.

According to Coca-Cola management, the deal is expected to “help strengthen its position in the Indian market”. Shyam S Bhartia, Founder and Chairman and Hari S Bhartia, Founder and Co-Chairman of Jubilant Bhartia Group, say the investment is an ideal addition to their business. “Together, we will leverage opportunities to grow the business to greater heights and ensure more Indian consumers can enjoy The Coca-Cola Company’s refreshing portfolio of iconic local and international brands.”

In FY24, Jubilant FoodWorks reported a 9.6% rise in its net sales to Rs 5,654 crore – up from Rs 5,158 crore in the previous year. While its net profit grew 13.3% year-on-year to Rs 400 crore.