India Equity Partners buys restaurant chain Sagar Ratna Hotels
India Equity Partners, a New York-based private equity fund, has purchased a majority stake in specialty restaurant chain Sagar Ratna Hotels for INR1.8 billion ($40.2 million). The capital will be used to refurbish its existing branches and aggressively expand its restaurant network.
According to The Economic Times, Sagar Ratna specifically wants to revamp its 70 restaurants, mainly in Northern India, as well as open 200 more branches within four years. Sagar Ratna specializes in South Indian, vegetarian cuisine and has been in operation for 25 years. The restaurant's founder Jayaram Banan will continue to be chairman, while India Equity Partners' Arvind Nair and Gaurav Mathur will join as CEO and non-executive director, respectively, the Times continued.
The restaurant chain first went up for sale a year ago, and reports of India Equity Partners' interest in the asset surfaced in the first quarter of this year.
The news comes during an active period for private equity in India's restaurant space. In July, New Silk Route Advisors closed its first Indian restaurant investment - in an unnamed restaurant holding company - for $100 million. In May, ICICI Venture acquired a 10% stake in food and beverage chain operator Devyani International for approximately $55.6 million, and in March, SAIF Partners-backed food services firm Speciality Restaurants submitted filings for a public offering, targeting as much as $37.6 million.
India Equity Partners itself has also boosted its profile in the food space this year. In February, the fund took a majority stake in Innovative Foods, a processed foods firm currently owned by Tata Group, for $16.5 million.
India Equity Partners focuses on growth capital investments across sectors in India, with an average investment size of $10-25 million.
More on South Asia
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.