| Industry | Bakers |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1965 |
| Products | Bread, Cakes, Wheat flour |
| Website | http://www.hul.co.in/brands/foodbrands/modern.aspx |
Modern Food Industries (India) Ltd (MFIL) was setup in 1965 as Modern Bakeries (India) Limited. It was setup under the Colombo plan. It got its present name in 1982. MFIL was a wholly owned Central Government owned PSU. MFIL had bread manufacturing units in 13 cities spread across India. MFIL had also marketed fruit juice concentrate under brand name Rasika in Delhi. MFIL was also into production of aerated soft drinks under the brand Double Seven[1]. MFIL was a wholly owned Central Government owned PSU. It was taken over by Hindustan Lever Limited in January 2000[2]. This was the first privatisation of public sector unit by Government of India. Modern Foods had over 40% of bread market in India.[3].
HUL was the sole bidder was Modern Foods. It paid Rs 10.5 million, as per the valuation exercise undertaken by its valuer ICICI, for 74% of the shares. Later the government exercised its put option to sell the remaining 26% to HLL for Rs 4.4 million in November 2002. In 2006 HUL had merged MFIL with itself. Senior HUL officials said the acquisition was a complete misfit with the HUL culture and systems. The company had admitted that the acquisition was a mistake on account of improper due diligence.[4].
In 2001 HUL had referred MFIL to Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. Later HUL had plans to sell the company to Middle East based Switz Group.