Varun Beverages shares gain 3% on Rs 131 crore South Africa Crickley Dairy deal

Varun Beverages Ltd (VBL) shares climbed in Wednesday’s trade following the announcement that its overseas arm is snapping up a 100% equity stake in South Africa's Crickley Dairy.

At 12:46 pm, shares of VBL were trading 2.62% higher at Rs 417.15 on the BSE, after rising as much as 2.8% to touch the day’s high of Rs 418 in early trade, up against its previous close of Rs 406.50 apiece. Despite this, the counter is down nearly 8% overall in March. The beverage giant currently commands a market capitalisation of Rs 140,661 crore.

In a recent stock exchange filing, the company disclosed that The Beverage Company Proprietary Limited (Bevco), a South African subsidiary of Varun Beverages, executed the acquisition agreement on March 17, 2026. B

Evco will purchase the entire business from the seller, Clark Holdings Proprietary Limited, for an enterprise value of ZAR 238 million, which translates to roughly Rs 131.47 crore, according to filing details.

The regulatory document said, it is "inline with the company's strategy to diversify its product portfolio into new categories viz. value-added dairy and juice based drinks."

According to Trendlyne data, the counter is showing short-term strength by trading above its 5-day simple moving average (SMA), it continues to hover below its medium- and long-term moving averages, specifically the 10-, 20-, 30-, 50-, 100-, 150-, and 200-day SMAs.

Meanwhile, in its latest note, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd (MOFSL) recommended a 'Buy' on VBL. The brokerage set a target price of Rs 550, signalling a 32 per cent upside potential from the stock's current trading levels.