Britannia denies any offer from Danone to settle IPR issue

New Delhi, Sept 21 (UNI) Wadia's-owned Britannia today denied reports of four million euro offer from Danone towards damages for settling the Tiger IPR issue.

''Britannia would like to clarify that no such offer has been received by the company,'' it said in a statement.

Britannia has dragged Groupe Danone to a Singapore court for allegedly using the intellectual property rights of its Tiger biscuit.

''Based on legal advice and under the direction of its IPR committee, Britannia has initiated legal action against Groupe Danone in Singapore pertaining to Tiger IPR,'' according to a statement issued by Britannia Industries.

The two began squabbling last year over control of the Tiger brand, which Danone had reportedly taken to other countries without taking the Wadias into confidence. The brand was created and developed by Britannia.

Wadia Group and Britannia Industries Chairman Nusli Wadia had also stepped down as chairman of the IPR committee to ensure that there is no potential conflict of interest in dealing with the Tiger IPR matter and the subsequent discussions between the Wadia Group and Groupe Danone over shareholder matters.

The IPR committee of the Britannia board was created in May 2006 to deal with all IPR matters. For the last one year, the committee has been working to resolve the issue of the use and registration of Tiger by Groupe Danone in several countries, without the consent or authorisation of the Britannia board.

Danone owns 25.1 per cent stake in Britannia while the Wadias hold around the same stake. Wadias were expected to buy out the entire stake of Danone in Britannia.

UNI