Cobra, the best-selling beer brand in the United Kingdom owned by NRI entrepreneur Karan F Bilimoria, is valued at £40-50 million.
"The brand was valued at £20 million an year ago. Since then, its sales have more than doubled. So, I think the current value of the brand is between £40 million and £50 million," Bilimoria said.
However, Bilimoria, trailed throughout his stay in the city by a British television crew, said the brand was not up for sale, though there were enquiries by prospective buyers when Cobra was at its infancy.
In fact, the India-born and UK-educated Bilimoria wants to take Cobra to markets outside UK, including the US, South Africa and India.
But Bilimoria has had to alter his US gameplan. Budweiser has a brand called King Cobra in its portfolio. As a result, Bilimoria cannot launch his beer under the Cobra brand.
So, he has come up with another brand for the US market called Krait -- another poisonous snake found in the jungles of tropical India.
"The name is simple. It's like asking for a crate of Krait," he said when quizzed on his fascination with snakes.
In India, however, there are no hiccups and his launch plans are sailing smoothly. Cobra started exporting to India in 2002 and is now available only in five-star hotels and luxury restaurants.
If all goes well, Cobra beer might start a greenfield manufacturing plant at an estimated cost of $10 million near Hyderabad by 2006.
Bilimoria has seen a brewery near Delhi, which culd feed the northern markets, even as talks are on with a couple of brewers in Maharashtra.
"The Indian beer market is very promising. A country like China has overtaken the US and Germany as the biggest beer market and I'm sure with the reforms gathering momentum, India too will see a great demand," said Bilimoria.
Cobra will be positioned as a premium beer in the country and will be priced at a premium of 5-7 per cent over popular brands. According to Bilimoria, it will compete with brands like Royal Challenge and Kalyani's Black Label.
Well-entrenched players like Vijay Mallya's UB and the Shaw Wallace-SABMiller combine does not boher Bilimoria.
"There are over 400 brnds in the UK and we are amongst the fastest growing. It can't get any tougher than that," he said.
