Rabobank-sponsored India Agri Business Fund II has acquired 40% stake in Olive Bar & Kitchen Pvt Ltd (OBKPL) held by Aditya Birla Private Equity (32%), owner of Adlabs Films and entertainment park Imagica Manmohan Shetty (6%) and other investors (2%). A secondary deal, financial details of which were not disclosed, this is Rabo Fund’s first investment in the food services sector in eight years.
Rajesh Srivastava, chairman, Rabo Equity Advisors, said the company (OBKPL) is backed by promoters who have a cutting edge and are replete with new creative ideas for sustainable growth. “We see Olive as a great opportunity for scaling up our exposure in the food services space. It has a robust back-end infrastructure, good internal controls and rigorous corporate governance practices,” he said.
While Olive group’s growth plans are funded by its strong accruals, Srivastava added, the incoming investor (Rabo Fund) is well disposed towards further infusion in the due course to fast-track the growth even beyond the business plan.
Established by industry veteran AD Singh in the year 2000, Olive Bar & Kitchen is amongst the fastest growing food restaurant companies with current revenues around Rs 200 crore and healthy margins.
