New Delhi, Feb. 13 -- ITC Ltd is in early discussions with Norway's Orkla ASA to acquire its Indian businesses MTR Foods Pvt. Ltd and Eastern Condiments Pvt. Ltd for about $1.4 billion, two people aware of the talks said, as the Kolkata-headquartered food giant looks to expand its offerings in the southern market.

The stake sale is a change of plan for Orkla, which was considering an IPO for the Indian business as recently as September 2024. The Norwegian company entered India by acquiring ready-to-eat food maker MTR in 2007 and spicemaker Eastern in 2020.

"ITC is ready to evaluate the acquisition because the company is keen on some of the key southern markets in the food space. The company has been planning to increase the contribution...