Twenty-year-old Mumbai-based bakery chain Theobroma that specialises in traditional, home-style baked goods made with fresh ingredients, can have a fresh equity partner, with founder-owners and ICICI Venture that hold a 42% stake in the business, planning to serve the whole stake through the deal, which is nearing its final process.
3 firms in the race
Eager to pick up the stake, three private equity firms Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Chrys Capital have already submitted, the Mint reported quoting an anonymous official.
“The real negotiations will begin now. The deal size is expected to be in the range of ₹2,500-3,000 crore,” another official said.
Process began in January
The bids came in during the week that began on August 26, 2024, one of the persons told the newspaper. The process to sell the stake was kicked off in January this year.
The patisserie chain which has already made a name for itself, was set up by Kainaz Messman, who was a chef with the Oberoi group. Arpwood Partners, an investment bank, was hired to scout for new equity investors after ICICI Venture made up its mind to exit.
In more than 30 cities in India
The first outlet of the chain appeared in Colaba Causeway in 2004. It was run directly buy the family of the founder. The outlet then went from strength to strength and quickly spread out to more than 30 cities in India, where it has more than 200 stores.
Company financials
In FY23, the chain registered a PAT of Rs 19.59 crore. It was a sharp jump from a loss of Rs 11 crore in FY22. The sales figures jumped more than 38% from Rs 254.74 crore in FY22 to Rs 351.67 crore in FY23.
If the deal goes through it could prove to be the first investment in food business for at least two of the three firms eager to buy stake. According to the report, Bain Capital is yet to debut in the food sector with an investment. Chrys Capital is negotiating to acquire Belgian Waffle, while Carlyle Group earlier invested in Tirumala Foods, which is a company dealing in dairy products.
Theobroma stake sale: A deal of Rs 2,500-3,000 crore might be struck to divest 42% of the holdings in this patisserie chain. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
