Sapphire Foods raises Rs 1,150 crore from Creador, other PE firms

Sapphire Foods, which operates 437 restaurants of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, on August 9 raised Rs 1,150 crore through a mix of primary and secondary rounds, led by private equity (PE) firms such as Creador, NewQuest Capital Partners and TR Capital.

Sapphire Foods has also raised a direct round of growth capital from Creador.

“Sapphire Foods Mauritius Limited (Sapphire Mauritius), an entity promoted by Samara Capital Management Limited (Samara Capital), has concluded a strategic round of investment into its flagship restaurant and food services company, Sapphire Foods India Limited (Sapphire Foods) by a consortium of private equity funds led by Creador, NewQuest Capital Partners and TR Capital,” the company informed on Monday.

Sapphire Foods is an omnichannel restaurant operator and a major franchisee of YUM! Brands in India. Led by Sanjay Purohit, Group CEO, the company also claims to be the largest franchisee of YUM! Brands in the Indian sub-continent in terms of revenue in the financial year 2020.

According to Sumeet Narang, Founder and MD, Samara India Advisors, the new funding round will help the company’s expansion plans and also provide a partial exit to a few investors.

The company in the past has raised funds from Samara Capital Group, Goldman Sachs, CX Partners and Edelweiss.

“The QSR chain segment, largely represented by global brands, is the fastest growing segment within the organized food services market in India. Sapphire Foods, by leveraging customer loyalty to the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands is well-positioned to capture further opportunities in the territories in which it operates and expand into other product lines or markets. Sapphire Foods is a great fit for Creador and we look forward to assisting the management team in their next phase of growth” said Kabir Thakur, Managing Director and Co-Head India, Creador.

The fresh investment into Sapphire Foods comes at a time when its competitor Devyani International is also set to go public. The company launched its initial public offering last week. It runs 284 KFC India stores and 317 Pizza Hut outlets in India. Burman Hospitality is another franchisee of Yum! Brands in India.