Lotte Confectionery buys Indian ice cream maker

Lotte Confectionery acquired Indian ice cream maker Havmor on Tuesday.

The two companies inked a deal Monday night, local time, in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat, where Havmor’s headquarters are located. Lotte purchased a 100 percent stake in the company for approximately 165 billion won ($153 million).

Havmor is a 73-year-old ice cream company and market leader in Gujarat. Lotte said its plan is to extend Havmor’s ice cream business to all of India using the sales network it established with Choco Pie since starting sales there in 2004. Last year, the product made 40 billion won from the Indian market.

For Lotte, the move signals the company’s ambition to diversify its portfolio to ice cream. Its overseas business until now has mostly focused on dry snacks like Choco Pie, candy and chewing gum.

By Song Kyoung-son