INDIAN entrepreneur Lord Bilimoria has decided to put Cobra, the beer business he founded 18 years ago, up for sale for an estimated £200m.

The Asian peer, 46, has drafted in advisers from NM Rothschild to find a new investor in the business, famous for supplying its beer to most of the curry houses in Britain.

The decision to sell comes just two months after Cobra raised £15m of fresh capital. Investors, including Bilimoria, provided the funding after the failure of talks to sell a stake to Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits producer.

Rothschild will begin contacting potential buyers in the next few days. These are expected to include international brewers with a strong presence in the UK, such as Carlsberg, Heineken, InBev and Molson Coors.

International brewing concerns such as United Breweries of India, where Cobra has a growing presence, are also likely to be contacted, as are private-equity firms.

Bilimoria is said to be open-minded about selling a stake in the business or accepting a full takeover. He is keen to secure investment to take Cobra to the next stage of its development.

Although Cobra has yet to make a profit, it remains one of the UK’s fastest-growing beer brands in a market that is in overall decline. At retail, it has sales of £177.6m. The brand has grown by 28% in the last year, according to the data-research firm AC Nielsen, and analysts suggested the company could be worth around £200m.

Cobra’s largest shareholder is Bilimoria, who owns about two-thirds of the shares. The remaining stock is held by hedge funds, business-angel investors and the company’s own employees.

Bilimoria, who moved to Britain from India when he was 19, came up with the idea for Cobra while studying law at Cambridge.

He felt that lagers were too gassy and wanted to design a brand that would be easier to drink with food.

After contracting a brewery in India to help develop his beer, the first crates of Cobra were shipped out to Britain in June 1990.

In those days Bilimoria would drive round to Indian restaurants in an old Citroën 2CV providing samples of the new beer and persuading curry houses to stock it.

As well as becoming associated with curry, the brand also became recognised for its distinctive, large bottles.

Cobra quickly took off and today it is served in about 95% of all Indian restaurants licensed to sell alcohol.

For his first seven years in the industry Bilimoria imported all Cobra products from India. It started brewing in the UK under licence in 1997.

More recently, Cobra has started to be sold in pubs and bars where it is trying to compete with upmarket international brands such as San Miguel and Peroni.

It has also developed a second beer brand aimed at women. Cobra Bite was launched in the summer of last year and comes in several flavours, including ginger, lemon grass and lime.

The company regards India as its biggest growth opportunity. Beer consumption is less than one litre per head per year, but it is growing rapidly and Cobra hopes to capitalise on that.

The business has been making beer in India since 2005. It owns one brewery in the country and has contracts with nine other brewing sites.

The company declined to comment on the potential sale.

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