Radio Khaitan Ltd: Do you know?

 CMP: Rs.112.15, 
R1--Rs.130 & R2--Rs.149; S1--Rs.100 & S2--Rs.85.

Japan's oldest liquor company Suntory Holdings and India's Radico Khaitan created an alliance whereby Radico got the rights to market Suntory's Yamazaki single malt and Hibiki blended whiskies in India. 

Japanese liquor makers such as Suntory are keen to expand into a growing market like India as liquor sales plummet in a rapidly aging home market, where the total population is expected to decline by a third in the next few decades. 

Spirits sales in India are expected to reach 360 million cases by 2017 from 261 million cases as more than 60% of India's population is between the 15-45 age bracket.

Radico Khaitan Ltd accounts for 18 million cases in the Indian spirits market, with 8 PM whisky alone crossing four million cases. Suntory has been trying to ramp up its presence in India through acquisitions. In 2009, it launched an unsuccessful attempt to acquire a stake in Indage Vinters. 

The Radico Khaitan Ltd acquisition, if and when it happens, will underscore multinational liquor companies' hegemony over the Indian market. The Khaitans began talks with Suntory in 2011, but a deal did not materialise due to issues over majority control, said industry experts.

Earlier there were media reports that the Japanese spirits major is expected to pay close to Rs.870 crore for the stake, valuing Radico Khaitan Ltd at Rs.3,500 crore, or close to 20 times its FY13 operating profit. British drinks giant Diageo bought 53.4% in Vijay Mallya's United Spirits (USL) for close to Rs.12,000 crore in November 2012 at a valuation of 20 times the operating profit of USD.