Gourmet Investments, promoted by Bharti Family Office and the UK-based PizzaExpress Holdings, have announced a 50-50 joint venture to launch the PizzaExpress chain of restaurants in India.
Bharti Family Office is an initiative of the promoters of the Bharti group, through their personal investments.
The pizza chain’s first restaurant is expected to be launched some time next year, according to a statement issued by the Bharti group. Delhi and Mumbai are the two cities where it may begin. Harvey Smith, chief executive of the Gondola Group that promotes PizzaExpress, had a few days earlier reportedly told journalists in Britain that it was going to be a ‘potentially huge’ move into the sub-continent.
This will be the second coming for PizzaExpress. Its first India venture was with the V K Modi group some seven years before. That venture had failed to take off, for various reasons. The 46-year-old PizzaExpress, a leading casual dining brand, has 450 restaurants spanning Britain, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan and West Asia.
Bharti group chairman Sunil Mittal has two brothers, Rakesh Mittal and Rajen Mittal. Ramit Bharti Mittal, 32, elder son of Rakesh Mittal, of Bharti Enterprises, will be the lead in the venture from Bharti Family Office.
The Bharti group’s business interest ranges from telecom to media, and retail to real estate. Reliance Industries Ltd recently announced it was buying out Bharti’s stake in the Bharti AXA insurance business.
“India’s rapidly expanding economy and vast middle-class population, with increasing disposable incomes, offers tremendous growth opportunities in casual dining category”, said Ramit Mittal in a statement.
Smyth of the Gondola Group said, ‘We are delighted to have partnered the Bharti Family Office to establish PizzaExpress in India. These are exciting times and we look forward to bring the much-loved PizzaExpress brand to this fantastic market.”
