PETALING JAYA: Private equity (PE) firm Creador has announced an investment of US$73mil (RM308.4mil) into Sapphire Foods India Ltd, which operates a combined total of 437 KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell restaurants in India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives.
With the investment into Sapphire Foods, one of the largest franchisee operators of YUM! Brands in the Indian subcontinent, it marks Creador’s first foray into India’s fast-growing quick-service restaurant (QSR) sector.
The PE firm said in a statement yesterday that the investment would be made through a combination of a direct investment into Sapphire Foods and a secondary purchase of shares in the company.
According to Creador founder and chief executive officer Brahmal Vasudevan, QSR is the fastest growing segment among food service chain formats in India.
The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred a change in consumer buying patterns, with consumers migrating from the independent food sector to internationally recognised brands like KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, he added.
“The QSR market in India has been growing at 19% during the last few years and eating out frequency is significantly lower at 1.5 to two times per person per month versus seven to nine times in other developed markets.“The QSR market in India is expected to grow at more than 20% over the next four years.
“Sapphire Foods, with its combination of iconic brands that are well-loved by customers, strong focus on customer service, impressive track record and a strong management team, is well poised to capture a significant share of the Indian food services market and we are very pleased to be able to partner with them as they scale up the business,” said Brahmal.
