Cobra Beer, a brand of lager, has been put on the market by its founder, Lord Bilimoria. Rothschild has been hired to seek out potential buyers.
Rothschild is thought likely to approach brewers such as Heineken, Carlsberg, InBev and Moolson Coors, as well as private equity groups. Billimoria hopes to raise £200m from the sale.
Cobra is sold in Indian restaurants across the UK and plans to expand in India. Bilimoria, reportedly, believes that Cobra will generate more sales in India than in the UK within two years.
Lord Bilimoria established the firm in 1989, after graduating from Cambridge. The beer was initially produced in Bangalore, India and imported to the UK. The operations were moved to the UK in 1997, where it has been brewed ever since.
Bilimoria came up with the idea for Cobra when he realised that lagers were too gassy to drink with food, so he created one that would be more suited for consumption in restaurants.
Cobra has achieved sales of £177.6m and has grown by 28% in the last year. It is continuing to grow despite being in a declining UK market.
