NEW DELHI: Piveta Estates, a private venture of Max Group’s founder and chairman Analjit Singh has acquired a majority stake in celebrity chef Ritu Dalmia’s Riga Foods. Riga Foods owns and operates a chain of Italian-cuisine restaurants in Delhi-NCR as well as a catering service under the Diva brand name. This is the first funding round for the company.
Piveta will purchase 51 percent shares in Riga Foods, and the company said that the investment will be utilized for domestic and global expansion of the brand in markets like South Africa and the UK.
Among his private businesses Singh has interests in lifestyle-related ventures in the Western Cape, South Africa linked to viticulture, winemaking and hospitality under the brand name Leeu Collection. In the UK, he acquired the Linthwaite House, a boutique luxury hotel at Windermere earlier this year, his first such investment in the region.
Riga Foods was set up by Dalmia and Gita Bhalla in 2000, with the launch of its first restaurant Diva in New Delhi. The company said that while Piveta Estates has purchased a controlling stake, management control will continue to remain with Dalmia.
“We intend to be a strategic investor, guiding the organization through its expansion efforts, both in India and abroad,” said Singh. Dalmia said the investment will provide a strong fillip to the company’s expansion plans over the next few years.
