In the biggest-ever stake sale by an Indian company abroad, Tata Tea has sold its 30 per cent stake in US energy drink major Glaceau to global soft drink giant Coca Cola for 1.2 billion dollars, making a profit of 523 million dollars.

The Tata Tea had bought the stake in Glaceau in August last year. Glaceau, which commands a 30 per cent market share in the United States, sells a wide range of fast-growing beverage brands including vitamin water.

The sale of stake by the Tata Tea came after a flurry of overseas acquisitions by the Tatas and other leading Indian business houses in the last two years.

Analysts said the sale by the Tata Tea drives home the point that Indian companies will find it tough to get going when it came acquisitions when confronted by the financial might of multinational companies like Coca Cola.

The Tata's stake sale in Glaceau comes at a time when the Indian group is planning to enter into beverage segment in India, including tea and packaged drinking water. For this, the Group has already hived off its tea plantation businesses in the eastern Indian states of West Bengal and Assam.

Reacting to the news of stake sale, the price of Tata Tea share had shot up by seven percent in the Indian bourse on Friday.