Shah Foods is a publicly listed shell that has been repurposed twice - first as a placeholder fruit-and-vegetable trader, and now as the holding company for a power storage and backup solutions business built around a newly acquired subsidiary. The company began life in 1982 as a contract biscuit manufacturer for Britannia, went dormant when that contract ended in 2019, and was revived through successive management takeovers that culminated in a 2026 share-swap acquisition of Tandhan Power Technologies. The recurring pattern is a listed entity with no legacy operations being used as a ready-made platform - new owners inject a private business into it, and the combined entity emerges with that business as its sole operating engine.
Business segments
A single operating engine housed inside a listed holding shell - a power storage and backup trading business acquired in 2026, preceded by a wholesale fruit-and-vegetable placeholder that kept the company alive during its transition.
1. Power storage and backup solutions: the acquired operating engine
Shah Foods is now the listed parent of Tandhan Power Technologies, a Kolkata-based trader and exporter of batteries, UPS systems, and solar components sourced from established Indian OEMs and overseas suppliers.
- Sourced, not manufactured - Tandhan buys finished power storage and backup products from reputed original equipment manufacturers such as Exide, Luminous, and Livguard, then sells them onward under commercial arrangements, so it carries no factories, plant, or machinery of its own.
- Broad catalogue, one logic - the product range spans stationary batteries, solar power batteries, emergency lights, dry cells, mini and button batteries, and batteries for industrial, transport, and consumer use, alongside components like battery plates, chargers, inverters, relays, transformers, circuit breakers, and measuring instruments. Everything sits under the umbrella of power storage and backup.
- Export-led with an import leg - the business exports power solution products and also sources lithium-ion batteries, solar cells, and solar panels from overseas suppliers for its export markets, making it a cross-border trader rather than a domestic distributor.
- A business with its own track record - Tandhan was incorporated in 2018, originally as a textiles entity, then renamed twice before settling on power technologies in mid-2025; its standalone turnover was roughly Rs 120 crore in FY23, Rs 119 crore in FY24, and Rs 144 crore in FY25, showing a trading operation of meaningful scale before the acquisition.
- Acquired for shares, not cash - Shah Foods bought 100% of Tandhan by issuing 1,58,85,037 new equity shares at Rs 62.50 apiece to Tandhan’s shareholders, a transaction that simultaneously brought in the operating business and a new promoter group.
2. Wholesale fruit and vegetable trading: the placeholder that bridged the gap
A low-asset, zero-employee wholesale trading line in fruits and vegetables that generated the company’s entire reported turnover while it searched for a permanent business.
- Kept the lights on - after the biscuit factory closed in mid-2019 and the company became a non-operating shell, this wholesale trading activity was the sole source of revenue in FY25, classified under the industry code for wholesale of fruits and vegetables.
- Run with almost no fixed footprint - the company held no property, plant, or equipment, carried no manufacturing assets, and employed zero permanent staff as of March 2025, meaning the trading was conducted through a variable-cost, working-capital-only model.
- A bridge, not a destination - management’s own assessment described the outlook as bleak and the revival timeline as difficult to estimate, and the new acquirers have stated they may continue or diversify this line in future, signalling it was never intended as the long-term engine.
Group structure and partners
Shah Foods is a standalone BSE-listed entity with one wholly owned subsidiary, Tandhan Power Technologies, and a promoter group that changed twice in three years - most recently to the Jalan family, who gained control through the Tandhan acquisition.
- The listed shell and its subsidiary - Shah Foods itself had no subsidiaries until March 2026, when it acquired 100% of Tandhan Power Technologies via a share swap, making Tandhan its only operating subsidiary.
- First change of control, 2023 - a group of seven acquirers led by the Bhandari and Patel families bought 48.94% of the equity from the original Shah-family promoters for Rs 2.92 crore in cash, followed by a mandatory open offer that took their holding to 49.01%.
- Second change of control, 2026 - the Jalan family and seven persons acting in concert acquired a dominant stake through two simultaneous moves: a preferential allotment of 2.27 crore shares (most issued against the Tandhan acquisition) and a cash purchase of the Bhandari-Patel group’s 2.93 lakh shares at Rs 60 per share, resulting in a combined 69.39% holding.
- The open offer that drew a blank - the mandatory open offer to public shareholders at Rs 62.50 per share received no tenders, leaving the Jalan group’s stake unchanged at 69.39%.
- Governance backbone - the statutory auditor is Keshri & Associates, appointed for a five-year term, and the registrar and transfer agent is Big Share Services in Mumbai; the company has no public deposits and no material related-party transactions.