US private equity firm Advent International has initiated talks with several consumer goods companies and other PE firms to exit DFM Foods, the maker of Crax brand of snacks, by selling its entire 96.63% stake, said executives directly aware of the development.

Advent is negotiating with consumer goods companies such as ITC, Marico, Britannia, Lotte, and Liwayway Foods—the latter being the maker of South Asian snack brand Oishi. PE firms involved in the discussions include Kedaara Capital and CVC Capital Partners, the executives said.

Also Read: Advent acquires minority stake in Iscon Balaji Foods

"Advent has tapped potential buyers, which are a mix of strategic and private equity firms, and negotiations are currently underway," one of the executives said. "It expects to close the transaction by December."

Advent has mandated Avendus Capital and EY for the potential deal. The PE firm bought a majority stake in DFM Foods from WestBridge Capital in 2019 for $118.8 million. In January 2023, Advent delisted DFM.

DFM Foods posted a 27.5% rise in total sales to ₹705.8 crore in FY25, according to the company's latest available annual report. The company grew more than 30% in FY26, a second executive said, without elaborating.

Britannia declined to comment. Advent, EY, Avendus, Marico, ITC, Kedaara, CVC Capital, Lotte, and Liwayway Foods didn't respond to email queries.

Other than its mainstay brand Crax, DFM Foods, established in 1984, makes Curls, Fritts, and Natkhat snacks in formats such as potato chips, ethnic snacks, and millet-based variants. It has factories in Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Kashipur, and Howrah, according to its website.

"Apart from valuation, which is currently being fine-tuned, the potential deal will hinge on the scale and distribution muscle of the brand, and its ability to bridge the gap between indulgent and healthy snacking, as that's where the consumer shift is happening," a third executive said.

Also Read: Advent International to acquire stake in Felix Pharmaceuticals

India's packaged snacks space is seeing a surge in M&A activity amid an accelerated market transformation marked by escalating competition and the proliferation of digital-first and regional brands, fuelled by quick commerce, fresh capex by incumbents, and health-and-wellness snacking.

Deal activity in 2025 was led by the consumer products and retail sector with 393 transactions, followed by the technology sector at 354 deals, according to EY's *M&A India Report 2026*.

"The retail and consumer sector enters 2026 with strong momentum, underpinned by rapid scaling of quick commerce, deeper assortment expansion, and rising penetration across staples and discretionary categories," Nitin Gupta, partner, consumer products & retail, investment banking, at EY India, wrote in the report on the outlook for 2026.

"A supportive policy backdrop, improving export economics, and evolving consumer preferences are set to drive heightened M&A and capital activity through 2026."

GROWING APPETITE

Since March 2025, four external investors have bought stakes in Haldiram Snacks Food: former Hindustan Unilever CEO Sanjiv Mehta-backed L Catterton, Temasek, Alpha Wave Global, and Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company (IHC), valuing India's largest snacks maker at more than $10 billion.

Advent, on its part, took a significant minority stake in frozen food maker Iscon Balaji Foods this May for $150 million. Earlier in the year, another global PE firm, General Atlantic, bought a 7% stake in Gujarat-based packaged snacks maker Balaji Wafers for nearly ₹2,500 crore, valuing the latter at ₹35,000 crore.

The Indian snacks market, valued at ₹50,590 crore in 2025, is estimated to touch annual sales of ₹103,556 crore by 2034, growing at a compound annual rate of 8.28%, research firm IMARC Group said in a report.