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By Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Blackstone has dropped plans to acquire a majority stake in the snacks business of India's Haldiram's but is now discussing purchase of a 20% stake at a valuation of $8 billion, which is still a sticking point, sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Haldiram's, which Euromonitor International estimates has a share of almost 13% of India's $6.2-billion market for savoury snacks, has more than 150 restaurants, but many foreign investors are salivating over its popular snacks business.
In May Reuters reported a consortium led by Blackstone was eyeing a stake of 75% in the business and had made a non-binding bid, but those talks did not materialise as Haldiram's is no longer keen to sell a big stake, said the sources, who sought anonymity as the discussions are private.
"Blackstone is keen to close the transaction as a lot of effort has gone into it," said one source with direct knowledge of the issue.
There is a disconnect over valuation, though, with Haldiram's wanting to value the snacks business at $12 billion, but Blackstone aiming to seal the deal at $8 billion, two of the sources said.
While the first two sources put the size of the stake under discussion at 20%, the third source put it in a range of 15% to 20%, and said Blackstone remains keen to deploy capital in the company.
Haldiram's Chief Executive Krishan Kumar Chutani and Blackstone declined to comment.
Also in the running for a minority stake in the Indian business, two of the sources said, are Bain Capital, Singapore state investor Temasek and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), though they gave no details of their plans.
Temasek said it declines to comment on speculation, Bain declined to comment while ADIA did not respond.
Last year, Reuters reported India's Tata Group was in talks with Haldiram's to acquire a majority stake in the entire snacks and restaurants business.
At the time, Haldiram's was seeking a valuation of $10 billion, but those talks ended, and no Tata deal is in the works.
Haldiram's started in 1937 with a tiny shop in the city of Bikaner in the western desert state of Rajasthan.
One of its most popular snacks is "bhujia", a crispy fried Indian snack made with flour, herbs and spices and sold for as little as 10 rupees (12 U.S. cents) in mom-and-pop stores.
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
