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Advent International, a private equity firm, has halted its proposed acquisition of Everstone Capital's 40.9% stake in Restaurant Brands Asia (RBA). The firm, initially interested in RBA's Indian sector, failed to agree on terms with the other parties involved.
Specifically, Advent was interested in the India business of RBA, but Everstone and RBA preferred a package deal. The Indonesian business was not of interest to Advent. Despite Advent's engagement with Bain & Company to research the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry and evaluate the deal, the discussions did not progress after that stage. Everstone holds its stake in RBA through its investment vehicle, QSR Asia.
RBA reported consolidated revenue from operations of Rs 513.95 crore in Q4FY23, exceeding the Rs 399.79 crore from the previous year's quarter. Losses for the January-March quarter declined slightly to Rs 79.95 crore compared to Rs 81.53 crore in the same period a year ago.
Burger King, RBA's key brand, faces competition from McDonald's, Domino's, Subway, and KFC in the Indian QSR market. ICICI Securities noted in a research report that increased competition in the North and East markets and a delay in store expansion plans pose risks to RBA. As per RBA's recently released annual report FY2022-23, Burger King currently operates 391 stores across 92 cities in India.
The deal between Advent and Everstone encountered difficulties at a time when the macroeconomic downturn slowed down PE deal closures in India. According to previous reports, PE investments in India experienced a sixth consecutive quarterly decline during the quarter ending in March 2023. Investments amounted to $2.2 billion, representing a 75% YoY decline, according to data from Refinitiv. The source mentioned that Everstone would not pursue a distressed sale as the business is considered a valuable asset. They are willing to wait for a buyer, even if it takes time.
Everstone Capital, based in Singapore, is part of the Everstone Group, which manages over $7 billion in assets. It also operates Subway and Lavazza Coffee in India. Since its inception, Advent International has made investments totaling $70 billion across 42 countries.
Photo: Kseniia Ilinykh/Unsplash
