they would market in India. The joint venture will allow technology transfer to Britannia. Britannia and New Zealand Dairy each hold 49% of the JV, and the remaining 2 percent will be held by a strategic investor. Britannia has also tentatively announced that its dairy business (probably including Dynamix) would be transferred to the joint venture. However, the authorities' approval to the joint venture obliged the company to start manufacturing facilities of its own. It would not be allowed to trade, except at the wholesale level, thus pitching it in competition with Danone, which had recently established its own dairy business. Performance and profitability Between 1998 and 2001, the company's sales grew at a compound annual rate of 16% against the market, and operating profits reached 18%. More recently, the company has been growing at 27% a year, compared to the industry's growth rate of 20%. At present, 90% of Britannia's annual revenue of 22 billion comes from biscuits. Britannia is one of India's 100 Most Trusted brands listed in The Brand Trust Report. Britannia has an estimated market share of 38%. Disputes and controversies Wadia and Rajan Pillai Kerala businessman Rajan Pillai secured control of the group in the late 1980s, becoming known in India as the 'Biscuit Raja'. In 1993, the Wadia Group acquired a stake in Associated Biscuits International (ABIL), and became an equal partner with Groupe Danone in Britannia Industries Limited. In what The Economic Times referred to as one of [India's] most dramatic corporate sagas, Pillai ceded control to Wadia and Danone after a bitter boardroom struggle, then fled his Singapore base to India in 1995 after accusations of defrauding Britannia, and died the same year in Tihar Jail. Wadia and Danone The Wadias' Kalabakan Investments and Group Danone had two equal joint venture companies, Wadia BSN and United Kingdom registered Associated Biscuits International Holdings Ltd., which together held a 51 percent stake in Britannia. The ABIH tranche was acquired in 1992, while the controlling stake held by Wadia BSN was acquired in 1995. It was agreed that, in case of a deadlock between the partners, Danone was obliged to buy the Wadia BSN stake at a "fair market value". ABIH had a separate agreement signed in 1992 and was subject to British law. Wadia was to be Danone's partner in the food and dairy business, and product launches from Groupe Danone's were expected but