Author: Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Blackstone (NYSE:) has scrapped plans to acquire a majority stake in Indian company Haldiram’s snacks business but is now considering buying a 20% stake at an $8 billion valuation, a move still in dispute, sources told Reuters on Thursday .

Haldiram’s, which Euromonitor International estimates has nearly 13% of India’s $6.2 billion savory snacks market, has more than 150 restaurants, but many foreign investors are salivating at the prospect of its popular snacks business.

In May, Reuters reported that a Blackstone-led consortium was considering a 75% stake in the company and made a non-binding offer, but those talks fell through because Haldiram’s is no longer interested in selling a enormous stake, sources said: who were looking anonymity because the discussions are private.

“Blackstone is keen to complete the transaction as a lot of effort has been put into it,” said one source with direct knowledge of the matter.

There are differences over valuation, however, with Haldiram looking to value the snacks business at $12 billion, while Blackstone wants to seal the deal at $8 billion, two sources said.

While the first two sources put the size of the stake in question at 20%, the third source says it ranges from 15% to 20% and claims that Blackstone is still interested in investing capital in the company.

Haldiram CEO Krishan Kumar Chutani and Blackstone declined to comment.

Two sources said they were also bidding for a minority stake in the Indian company: Bain Capital, Singapore state investor Temasek and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), although they did not provide any details of their plans.

Temasek said it declined to comment on the speculation, Bain declined to comment, while ADIA did not respond.

Last year, Reuters reported that India’s Tata group was in talks with Haldiram’s to acquire a majority stake in the entire snacks and restaurant business.

At the time, Haldiram’s was seeking a $10 billion valuation, but those talks have ended and no deal with Tata is pending.

Haldiram’s began in 1937 with a miniature store in the city of Bikaner in the western desert state of Rajasthan.

One of the most popular snacks is “bhujia”, a crispy fried Indian snack made from flour, herbs and spices, sold in stores for as little as 10 rupees (12 US cents).