Bikaji Foods International is eyeing acquiring an undisclosed stake in fellow Indian company Ariba Foods.

The disclosure was made today (13 August) in a filing by Bikaji Foods with the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE).

Bikaji Foods said a board meeting will be held on Friday 23 August “to consider and approve the acquisition of [a] stake in Ariba Foods Private Limited, which is engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling frozen food”.

It added that Bikaji Foods' shares will be suspended from trading from today until “48 hours after the approval of the proposed acquisition”.

The size of the intended stake or an idea of the potential purchase price were not disclosed in the filing.

Based in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Ariba Foods' frozen portfolio includes mixed vegetables, vegetarian and non-vegetarian burgers, paratha, samosa and roti.

Like Bikaji Foods, Ariba Foods also produces Indian snacks and sweets. It supplies the retail and foodservice channels.

Meanwhile, Jaipur, Rajasthan-based Bikaji Foods is primarily focused on local snacks varieties such as bhujia spicy snacks, namkeen savoury snacks, potato chips and papads.

Set up in 1987, it supplies 23 of the 28 Indian states and four of the so-called union territories out of the eight across the country.

Last year, Bikaji Foods, which claims to be the third-largest Indian snacks maker in the country, took a 49% stake in fellow Indian snacks maker and start-up Bhujialalji.

Bhujialalji was set up in 2021 and supplies branded products such as bhujia, a popular fried and spiced snack originating from Bikaner in Rajasthan. It serves the e-commerce channel and so-called quick commerce, a delivery service common in India, and also select retail.

In 2019, Bikaji Foods attracted interest from new investors.

A fund under the umbrella of Indian financial services group Avendus Asset Management took a minority stake in Bikaji Foods from private-equity firm Lighthouse and another investor, Intensive Softshare.