Indian restaurant chain Lite Bite Foods has acquired four brands from Bellona Hospitality, the food and beverages arm of Phoenix Mills Group, for an undisclosed amount.
Rohit Aggarwal, director of Lite Bite Foods, confirmed the acquisition — the first by the chain — but declined to give the deal size. “The acquisitions will help us in expanding our footprint across multiple markets, formats and cuisine,” he said.
The brands acquired include Shizusan, which has outlets in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore, 212 All Day and All Good, and Bar, according to Agarwal. Lite Bite Foods is promoted by Dabur India vice-chairman Amit Burman and Aggarwal. It owns close to 200 casual dining restaurants in the country including Punjab Grill, Street Foods and Tres.
The Phoenix Mills Group, which began operations as a textile manufacturing company, has since established itself as a pure play real estate player. Aggarwal said that in response to a growing consumer base in tier-II and III markets, Lite Bite Foods has laid out plans to set up outlets of its existing brands.
These could include Punjab Grill and Street Foods, he said, adding that lower real estate costs, unsaturated markets, lesser competition, higher prospects of profitability, and scalable models make smaller emerging markets attractive catchments.
Source: ETRetail
