Dec 11 (Reuters) - Jubilant Bhartia Group said on

Wednesday it will buy a 40% stake in Coca-Cola's largest

bottler in India, as the Indian conglomerate plans to foray into

the country's "high growth" beverage sector.

The group, which owns Domino's Pizza's Indian

franchisee Jubilant FoodWorks, did not disclose the

financial terms of the deal.

However, Indian media reports said the deal was worth 125

billion rupees ($1.47 billion).

The investment "aligns with our strategic intent to

expand and diversify into high-growth industries," Hari S.

Bhartia, the group's founder and co-chairman said in a

statement.

The Indian beverage sector is seeing steady growth, with

revenue generated from non-alcoholic beverages expected to reach

over $24 billion by 2027 from $17 billion in 2023, a report from

data firm Statista showed.

The investment is also expected to strengthen the position

of Coca-Cola-owned Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) after

media reports showed that the bottler had divested operations in

three regions in the country earlier this year.

As of November, the bottler had 16 factories in India.

Jubilant Bhartia, which has four listed companies in the

Indian stock exchanges, said it will buy the stake in HCCB via

its entity Jubilant Beverages.

Morgan Stanley was the exclusive financial advisor to the

deal, the group added.

In October, the news agency IFR reported that the

controlling shareholders of Jubilant Bhartia Group were planning

to raise $1.4 billion from a mix of rupee bonds and structured

debt or equity to fund the stake buy in HCCB.

($1 = 84.8060 Indian rupees)