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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. In addition, Sapphire Foods has also raised a direct round of growth capital from Creador. The new investors have invested over INR 1150 crores in a mix of primary and secondary round.
Avendus Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to Sapphire Foods and UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive placement agent and financial advisor to Samara Capital Management Limited, the Investment Manager of Sapphire Mauritius, in this investment round.
Sapphire Foods has attracted marquee investors such as Samara Capital Group, Goldman Sachs, CX Partners and Edelweiss. Sapphire Foods is an omnichannel restaurant operator and the largest franchisee of YUM! Brands in the Indian sub-continent in terms of revenue in the financial year 2020 operating 437 restaurants of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, as on March 31, 2021.
Sapphire Foods is led by Sanjay Purohit, Group CEO, and a professional management team, with robust corporate governance practices, and clearly defined company values that help guide organization behavior and culture.
“We believe that the business has a strong foundation and is on an inflection point for growth. We value our relationship with Yum! Brands for their continued innovation and support. We are excited to partner with Creador, TR Capital and NewQuest Capital and look forward to a fruitful relationship. Their support in various initiatives would benefit the business in accelerating our growth plans. This investment round is to fund our new store expansion and providing partial exit for a few investors.” said Sumeet Narang, Founder and Managing Director at Samara India Advisors Private Limited.
“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.
Sapphire Foods is the largest franchisee operator of YUM! Brands in the Indian sub-continent in terms of revenue in the financial year 2020, and operates 437 restaurants of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell in India, Sri Lanka, and Maldives, as on March 31, 2021. Sapphire Foods aspires to be India’s best restaurant operator by serving customers great food with great experience at great value. Sapphire Foods has attracted marquee investors including Samara Capital, Goldman Sachs, CX Partners, and Edelweiss.
Samara Capital, founded in 2007, is an entrepreneurially run, mid-market Private Equity firm with strong operating capabilities. Samara Capital’s investors include high quality institutional investors and family offices from around the globe. Samara Capital sees itself as a business owner and partners with entrepreneurs and managements to enable businesses to achieve their true potential, creating long term value for all stakeholders.
Bringing together traditional and alternative investments, Goldman Sachs Asset Management provides clients around the world with a dedicated partnership and focus on long-term performance. As the primary investing area within Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), they deliver investment and advisory services for the world’s leading institutions, financial advisors, and individuals, drawing from their deeply connected global network and tailored expert insights, across every region and market—overseeing more than $2 trillion in assets under supervision worldwide as of March 31, 2021. Driven by a passion for their clients’ performance, they seek to build long-term relationships based on conviction, sustainable outcomes, and shared success over time.
Creador is a private equity firm specializing in growth capital investments. It typically invests in the field of consumer, retail, FMCG, financial services, pharma, healthcare, business services, technology, and media. The firm is focused on partnering with passionate entrepreneurs to grow world-class businesses in South and Southeast Asia including India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, and Sri Lanka. Creador is committed to leveraging their regional experience, deep market knowledge and operational expertise to accelerate business growth and create superior value for their partners. It was founded in September 2011 and manages over $2 bn of assets.
NewQuest is the leading dedicated secondary private equity platform focused on the Asia-Pacific region with offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Mumbai. NewQuest specializes in providing strategic liquidity solutions to private equity asset owners, including private equity funds, financial institutions, corporations, hedge funds and family offices. NewQuest was established in 2011 and currently manages four funds with capital commitments of over US$2.4 billion.
TR Capital is a leader in secondary private equity investments in the Asia-Pacific region.
TR Capital focuses on providing liquidity solutions to owners of private equity assets through Secondary Direct (single asset) and Fund Restructuring (portfolio) transactions. The firm targets significant positions in established leaders in the Technology, Consumer and Healthcare sectors. TR Capital is an active investor/shareholder and works with its portfolio companies to optimize their business models and capital structures.
TR Capital currently manages four funds with capital commitments of close to US$1 billion. The firm’s sophisticated investor base includes sovereign funds, pension funds, asset management firms, entrepreneurs, and family offices. Founded in 2007, TR Capital has subsequently closed 37 secondary investments and built a solid track record with TR Capital I (2008), TR Capital II (2012), TR Capital III (2016) and TR Capital IV (2019). TR Capital’s 25 professionals are based in offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Mumbai.
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