Milk Mantra shells out Rs. 10 crore for Westernland Dairy.

Orissa-based dairy start-up Milk Mantra has made its first acquisition as it seeks to expand operations, and which comes at a time when an increasing number of emerging ventures are taking on the established players in the Indian dairy space.

The five year-old company, founded by ex-Tata Administrative Services executive Srikumar Misra, has acquired Sambalpur-based Westernland Dairy for about Rs. 10 crore.

Milk Mantra is looking to increase its product offerings as well as expand further into Orissa, and enter Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

'This acquisition gives us the ability to increase our immediate processing capacity in western Orissa and other states, where we can extend our Milky Moo franchises,' Misra, managing director and chief executive, Milk Mantra, said.

This is the first acquisition by Milk Mantra. The company, which is backed by impact investment firm Aavishkaar and private equity heavyweight Fidelity Growth Partners India, which led a Rs 80-crore investment in the venture earlier this year, is scouting for more buyout opportunities.

ET