In what may come as bad news for McDonald’s and other big burger joints in the country, one of the world’s top fast-food companies, Burger King, will soon enter India. According to an Economic Times report, Burger King will enter India through a franchising partnership with a company that will be headed by the present CEO of its UK operations and majority-owned by private equity firm Everstone Capital. If reports are to be believed, this a rare instance of a PE fund partnering with a fast-food chain. According to the report, the India venture will be spearheaded by Rajeev Varman, the chief executive of Burger King in the UK.

What’s more unusual in this venture is that, the US chain will also reportedly hold a minority stake in the Indian franchisee, unlike its usual global practice, noted the ET report. Burger King, famous for its signature Whopper sandwich will be among the last big global food chains to enter India. The ownership of Burger King has changed several times since it opened its first outlet in 1954, and it is currently owned by Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital, which bought it for $3.3 billion in 2010. The company operates more than 22,000 outlets across the world and it wants a fairly big entry into the market. The company had held discussions with DLF and Kishore Biyani’s Future Group to enter the market some years ago. Everstone Capital, founded by two Goldman Sachs bankers Sameer Sain and Atul Kapur, controls Blue Foods, which claims to be India’s largest restaurant company with brands like Copper Chimney, Noodle Bar, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in its portfolio. Burger King and Everstone are expected to sign the franchising agreement shortly. However, neither Burger King or Everstone have confirmed the news. India’s organised food services market is estimated to be worth about Rs 7,000 crore and growing at 30 percent annually. Global brands enjoy as much as 63 percent of India’s organised foods market.

source: https://goo.gl/DuyGul - Firspost