The Asian arm of L Catterton, the world’s largest consumer focused private equity firm, which is backed by Louis Vuitton owner LVMH is looking to cede control in Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd, multiple industry sources with knowledge of the matter told Moneycontrol.
The move comes more than four years after L Catterton Asia picked up a controlling stake in the leading Indian F&B major, which was founded by ace restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani in 2001.
“India Resurgence Fund (IndiaRF) a JV between Piramal Enterprise and Bain Capital Credit, is in talks to pick up a majority stake in Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd and L Catterton Asia is looking to make returns on its 2017 investment,” said one of the people cited above.
Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt Ltd backs popular restaurants, cafés and bars such as the Social chain, Smoke House Deli, Mocha, Prithvi Café, Saltwater Café, Slink & Bardot, Souffle S’il Vous Plait, the Tasting Room and others.
“Other than L Catterton Asia, a few other shareholders are also looking to sell stake. The founding team will stay back and run the operations,” a second person told Moneycontrol, adding that the negotiations may or may not necessarily fructify into a deal.
A third person also confirmed that discussions were on between both the parties without elaborating further.
According to media reports in 2017, the US-based private equity firm acquired around 65 percent stake in Impresario via a primary infusion of capital and a secondary share sale valuing the entire firm at around Rs 500 crore.
It was not immediately clear if L Catterton Asia would make a complete exit and if there was any other suitor in the fray for the stake buy.
All the three persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on the condition of anonymity.
When contacted, India Resurgence Fund and L Catterton Asia declined to comment. An email query sent to Impresario was left unanswered at the time of going to press despite reminders.
In response to a text message from Moneycontrol, Riyaaz Amlani said, “Impresario is exploring many options to fund our next stage of growth. We are having many conversations at this point and nothing is close to final yet.”
Incidentally, the Impresario website says, “Our growth will be fuelled by scaling up our Smoke House Deli and Social brands.”
The IndiaRF Strategy
IndiaRF is an India-focused investment platform sponsored by Piramal Enterprises Limited and Bain Capital Credit, which seeks to provide attractive, long-term, risk-adjusted returns to investors primarily by making distressed to control investments in Indian companies. According to its website, the fund targets to invest across diverse sectors from industrial to infrastructure to consumer and is currently investing from its $629-million IndiaRF Fund I, raised from international institutional investors, high net worth investors and family offices. Its current portfolio includes Panacea Biotec, India Steel Corporation, Thrissur Expressway Ltd, Setco Automotive Ltd and others.
According to a recent PTI report, Bain Capital is setting aside up to $300 million (Rs 2,334 crore) from its $2-billion Asia-Pacific focused new special situations fund for investments in India. The special situations fund provides tailored capital solutions to companies, entrepreneurs, and asset owners in all market cycles. It invests across capital structures in corporate debt and structured capital solutions, distressed assets, non-performing loans, hard asset opportunities, and growth equity, the report added.
A closer look at Impresario
According to its website, the Impresario board consists of Amlani, the CEO & MD, Arshad Syed, a director and professional advisor to the board, and three other representatives of L Catterton Asia – Managing Partner Chinta Bhagat, Principal Saurabh Mehta and senior advisor Vispi Patel. According to reports, the firm is present in 18 cities with a total of 63 outlets, of which it owns 46, while 17 (Mocha) are franchise-based.
In a recent interview to Financial Express, Amlani said the business had gone past pre-Covid levels and that is he is expecting to end FY23 with revenues of nearly Rs 650 crores. He added that April was the best month in Impresario’s history in terms of revenues. The interview also added that the firm is planning to open 14-17 new outlets pan India in FY23, in addition to 6-7 franchise based outlets.
In the listed segment, some of the domestic F&B and QSR ( quick service restaurants) players in India include Everstone Group backed Burger King, Barbecue Nation, Devyani International, the largest franchisee of Yum! Brands in India which operates Pizza Hut, KFC and Costa Coffee and Samara Capital backed Sapphire Foods which also operates Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell.
The L Catterton footprint
US-headquartered L Catterton is one of the largest and most experienced consumer-focused investment firms in the world, with over $30 billion in assets under management. Since its founding in 1989, the firm has focused exclusively on building iconic and enduring consumer brands.
Headquartered in Singapore ,L Catterton Asia has a strong regional presence with local offices and teams in Beijing, Mumbai, Shanghai, Sydney, and Tokyo. L Catterton Asia combines its primary market knowledge with L Catterton’s domain expertise to drive its category selection and invests in distinctive fast growing consumer businesses in Asia.
In May, omni-channel beauty firm Sugar Cosmetics announced the close of a $50 million series D fund raise led by L Catterton Asia.
The firm’s portfolio also includes the likes of Jio Platforms, Future Lifestyle Fashions, footwear brand Birkenstock, Japanese eye wear player Owndays, skin care firm Marubi and Pepe Jeans. It had earlier invested in FabIndia and PVR and made profitable exits from them
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