French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH’s investment arm L Catterton Asia has acquired majority stake in restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani’s Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality, promoter of fine dining restaurant brands Smoke House Deli and Social.
Two persons familiar with the development said the deal values Impresario at about Rs 500 crore.
“The deal has been structured with primary infusion of capital and a secondary share sale. The latter involves existing investors exiting the company or diluting their stakes,” another person briefed about the development said.
Confirming the development, L Catterton Asia managing partner Ravi Thakran said, “We are delighted to partner with Riyaaz Amlani and Impresario Restaurants to build Social and Smoke House Deli into iconic food and beverage brands both in India and abroad.” He declined to confirm the deal size.
EThad first reported in June that the LVMH arm is likely to buy a stake in Impresario. The investment comes at a time when the eating out sector in the country is looking up as a long-term high potential business after two years of subdued sales.
Prior to the deal with L Catterton, Amlani owned about 30% of Impresario, while PE investor Beacon India Investors held 36% and restaurant player Mirah Hospitality owned 16%. The remaining stake is split among other smaller investors.
According to persons cited earlier, Amlani’s shareholding will come down to 20-25% after the deal with L Catterton.
“Riyaaz will remain a significant minority and he will continue to head operations,” one of them said.
Amlani said he is “thrilled” to partner with L Catterton that “specialises in consumer investing worldwide and have had significant experience and success building F&B brands such as Crystal Jade, Ce La Vi and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen”.
L Catterton Asia was earlier known as L Capital Asia. Last year, L Capital merged with US-based private equity firm Catterton to form L Catterton.
L Catterton had earlier invested in Indian consumer-oriented firms such as Fabindia, Genesis Luxury and PVR.
Two years ago, it made a bountiful harvest when it exited PVR by selling its 15% stake in an open market transaction on the National Stock Exchange for about Rs 485 crore.
Recent PE investments in the Indian restaurant space include Gaja Capital’s Rs 160-crore investment in Jiggs and Zorawar Kalra’s Massive Restaurants.
Real estate developer Embassy Group’s managing director Jitendra Virwani recently bought controlling stake in JSM Corporation, which operates restaurant brands Hard Rock Cafe, California Pizza Kitchen and Shiro.
Source: Economic Times