Indian tea company Sapat eyes UK tea and coffee retailer Whittard

23 December 2008

Sapat, the family-owned Indian tea company, is looking to acquire cash-strapped Whittard of Chelsea, an upmarket tea and coffee retailer in the UK.

The Times newspaper quoted Sapat owner Nikhil Joshi as saying that his company was closely following the situation at Whittard, which is starved of funds for its working capital needs.

Whittard is understood to have called in Ernst & Young as standby administrator after its lender, the collapsed Icelandic bank Landsbanki, cut its funding lines.

Landsbanki, which the Icelandic government nationalised in October, stopped lending to Whittard after a KPMG-appointed team failed to find a buyer for the UK retailer.

KPMG in Mumbai is also advising Sapat.

''We're waiting for some clarity to assess our next move. We are in a position to make an acquisition. We have looked at this brand in the past. For us, an entry into the UK would make sense,'' the newspaper quoted him as saying.