)
Billionaire bottler Ravi Jaipuria may consider bidding for the food retailing business of the Dubai-based Dodsal Group.
Dodsal, which has the franchise for Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell stores in west and south India, has appointed investment bankers to look for potential buyers for the business. Jaipuria's Devyani International holds the three Yum! Brands franchises in north and east India.
Jaipuria, one of PepsiCo's top-three franchise bottlers in the world, told Business Standard, "It would make sense for us to consider the business since we have the rights in the north and the east. But we need clarity from the parent (Yum! Brands) on whether franchises are available in the first place in the two regions. Yum! Brands has been setting up stores on their own. We will certainly want to know whether they wish to appoint franchisees for the two regions or set up company-owned outlets."
Yum! Brands has about 700 Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell stores in India, four in every five as a franchise. The fast-food giant, which last year announced a $10-billion (Rs 60,000 crore) investment in emerging markets by 2020, said it proposed to take its India store count to 1,000 by 2015. The $10-billion investment Yum! Brands had said it would happen along with its franchise partners. "We are investing in the local economy and workforce, and have both equity (company-owned) and franchise stores across the country," Yum Restaurant India director, corporate affairs, Devashish Dasgupta said.
A mail sent to Yum Restaurants India, a unit of the Louisville, Kentucky-based Yum! Brands Inc, on whether it would opt to take the franchise route in the west and south or set up company-owned stores elicited no response till the time of going to press. India and China remain key markets for the global giant, ranked among the top-three fast-food companies in the world with over 40,000 restaurants in 125 countries. Its key rivals include McDonald's and Subway.
The organised food services market in India is pegged at $48 billion (or Rs 2.88 lakh crore), of which the fast-food segment alone stands at $4 billion (or Rs 24,000 crore).
This segment is growing at about 10-15 per cent and despite discretionary spending slowing in the last few quarters, companies remain bullish, adding stores every year. Yum! Brands alone has been adding over 100 stores every year, with 157 additions in 2013. The global major has also said sales will touch $1 billion (or Rs 6,000 crore) by 2015 in the country, with outlets in 100 cities.
