Abraaj buys Southeast Asia’s Wine Connection Group

The investment size was not disclosed, but the GP is currently deploying its second Southeast Asia fund, which has a corpus of $250 million and targets companies with an enterprise value of $20-50 million.

Founded in 1998 by French national Michael Trocherie, Wine Connection has a network of 55 outlets in Singapore and Thailand, offering wines from around the world and Western-style cuisine. It caters to the region's emerging middle class with a range of high quality yet affordable food and beverage products.

Trocherie said the business has reached a size and scale whereby external capital and expertise is required to take it to the next level. Abraaj will help Wine Connection expand its footprint in existing markets and replicate the business model in new territories, both in Southeast Asia and beyond. Trocherie and his management team will remain in place.

The private equity firm - which bolstered its emerging markets coverage with the acquisition of Aureos Capital in 2012 - has previously made three food and beverage-related investments in Southeast Asia and over 20 globally.

"The consumption-led growth across the region will provide us with a robust platform to expand Wine Connection into the next phase of its growth, leveraging operational efficiencies, increasing the number of stores in its current markets and targeting new countries both in the region and around the world," Srisant Chitvaranund, managing director at Abraaj, said in a statement.

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• Topics
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Southeast Asia
• buyout
• The Abraaj Group