Abraaj exits Thai restaurant chain Hot Pot after IPO

The stock then rose strongly on its trading debut to close at THB3.80. It reached THB4.06 during morning trading on December 19.

The original investment was made in 2006 by Aureos Southeast Asia Fund, a vehicle run by Aureos Capital until its acquisition by Abraaj earlier this year. The fund injected THB150 million alongside GSB Private Funds, a vehicle set up by Thailand's Government Savings Bank and managed by ING, for a 35% stake.

Of the 101.9 million shares in the offering, 40.6 million were existing shares held by Aureos Southeast Asia Fund. According to the parallel agreement between the fund and GSB, the parties had to dispose of their holdings jointly. Therefore, GSB sold 13.5 million shares to Aureos Southeast Asia Fund before the first day of trading. As of October, the fund still held 12.9 million shares.

"Achieving such a heavily oversubscribed share offering in what has been a globally weak IPO market is a great result," said Omar Lodhi, senior partner at Abraaj. "It is also a good measure of the strength of the Hot Pot business that the Abraaj team helped to build. We made this investment on the basis that growth in Southeast Asia would be fast, sustainable and lead to a dramatic increase in domestic spending - not least in categories such as casual dining."

Hot Pot operates under two main brands: the international buffet chain Hot Pot, which serves sukiyaki and shabu shabu, and Daidomon, a barbeque and Japanese shabu shabu chain.

Since Aureos Southeast Asia Fund first invested, Hot Pot has recorded compound annual revenue growth of approximately 25% while its network has expanded from 58 to 126 branches. A state-of-the art central kitchen and cold storage facility were also introduced, improving the company's health and safety record and increasing productivity.

Hot Pot's total income came to THB945.5 million in the first half of 2012, more than the THB870.5 million earned in 2009 as a whole.

This is the second joint exit by Aureos Southeast Asia Fund and GSB in a month, following the sale of Bangkok-based Vejthani Hospital to KPJ Healthcare for THB605.6 million, securing a 3x money multiple. Earlier this year, the fund also sold its stake in Yupi, an Indonesian confectionary company, and exited Cirtek Electronics, a semiconductor business, through an IPO on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Exits
• Aureos Advisers (Aureos Capital)
• IPO
• Exit
• Southeast Asia
• Thailand
• Consumer
• The Abraaj Group