Deutsche, Franklin plan to invest in Cafe Day

Forget Starbucks coming into India. Witness the expansion of Café Coffee Day which is set to mushroom across the country.

Months after raising $35 million through private equity and debt from Sequoia Capital and International Finance Corporation, Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company (ABCTCL) is to raise an additional $50 million through the private equity route.

Company sources said, Deutshce Bank and Darby Overseas Investments, a part of Franklin Templeton Investments, were investing in the massive expansion plans of the Café Coffee Day chain of coffee bars across India and in pockets of Europe and the Middle East.

Amalgamated Bean is run by V G Siddhartha, who has also been a successful technology venture capitalist having backed companies like MindTree and Ittiam. In addition to the coffee business, Siddhartha is also into IT parks and the hospitality sector. Amalgamated Bean is a Rs 500-crore firm, which has successfully diversified into the coffee bars business, from its primary coffee exports business.

According to the company's roadmap, Café Coffee Day is expected to have a top line of a little over Rs 500 crore this year, an estimated growth of 33 per cent from FY07.

The company's business spans the entire value chain of coffee consumption in India. Its divisions include Coffee Day Fresh n Ground (which has 386 coffee bean and powder retail outlets), Coffee Day Xpress (500 Coffee Day kiosks), Coffee Day Take Away (7,000 vending machines), Coffee Day Exports and Coffee Day Perfect (FMCG packaged coffee).

Amalgamated Bean in its roadmap has saId that it aims to double the number of coffee bars to 800 in three years, while the coffee powder vending stores will number up to 650 from the current nearly 400.