Devyani International (a Ravi Jaipuria-promoted company and part of the Rs 3,000 crore RJ Corp), which manages the KFC, Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee brands in India is planning to launch a south Indian fast food chain of its own. It is planning to test market with 5-10 outlets in Delhi and surrounding areas to evaluate the market.
A little over a year ago, the company launched two south Indian fast food outlets in the Delhi airport named ‘Southern Spice’. It is now working on taking this concept to major cities with a different name. “We will take six months to understand the business. If we find the test market successful, we might launch it in 2011,” said Ravi Jaipuria, chairman, RJ Corp. He said that finances for the venture and other details were yet to be worked out.
RJ Corp has interests in various domains like food and beverages, beer, education and hospitality. It is PepsiCo’s biggest bottler in India. It is planning an expansion in its ice cream division, Cream Bell, by setting up a manufacturing plant in eastern India. With this, it will have three manufacturing plants. It is looking at an investment of Rs 100 crore into this expansion. Revenue from the ice cream business is around Rs 150 crore.
The company is learnt to be in talks with private equity investors to offload 10-12 per cent stake of one of its subsidiary companies. “We are looking at a valuation of $ 1 billion for this company,” said Jaipuria while declining to name the company. The proceeds will be utilised for expansion and aquisitions for its soft drinks and food and beverage business.