Bikaji Foods shares surge over 4% on partnership with bakery industry expert Thayekunni Khaleel

Shares of Bikaji Foods, the country's leading packaged foods company, rose as much as 4.12% to hit an intraday high of ₹635.95 on Thursday, August 27, after the company announced a strategic partnership with Thayekunni Khaleel, a world-renowned technical expert in the bakery industry, through its subsidiary Bikaji Bakes Private Limited (BBPL).

Bikaji Foods has transferred 30% equity stake in BBPL to Khaleel, while retaining 70% majority stake. BBPL will continue to remain a subsidiary of Bikaji Foods, the company said in an exchange filing.

The partnership brings together two highly complementary strengths Khaleel’s deep technical expertise and global bakery experience with Bikaji’s strong understanding of the Indian consumer, extensive distribution and sales network, and deep presence across the retail ecosystem, the company said.

"Through this collaboration, BBPL aims to bring world-class bakery practices, technical capabilities and expertise to India, while leveraging Bikaji’s established market infrastructure and consumer reach to build a scalable bakery business with strong long-term potential," Bikaji Foods said.

The stock was witnessing heavier than usual trading acrivity as volumes on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) jumped by 5.3 times to 5.15 lakh shares compared with an average volume of 97,049 shares.

“Bakery is a category with significant headroom for growth in India, and we believe the next phase of that growth will be driven by a combination of world-class technical capabilities and a deep understanding of the Indian consumer. Our partnership with Thayekunni Khaleel brings together his exceptional technical expertise and global bakery experience with Bikaji’s strengths in distribution, sales, retail and consumer understanding," said Deepak Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bikaji Foods International.

Bikaji Foods reported a net profit of ₹65 crore in the first quarter of current financial year, marking an increase of 3.2%from ₹63 crore in the same period last year.

Its revenue from operations advanced 9% to ₹664 crore at the end of June quarter from ₹608 crore in the year-ago period.

As of 2:25 pm, Bikaji Foods shares traded 0.8% higher at ₹615, outperforming the BSE500 index which was down 0.25%.