Temasek to buy US$82m stake in India's Devyani

Mumbai

Temasek Holdings has agreed to invest US$82 million to buy a stake in Devyani International, operator of KFC, Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee chains in India, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The sources said the Singapore state investor would use 1 billion rupees (S$20.8 million) to purchase part of a holding in Devyani by ICICI Venture, the private equity arm of ICICI Bank.

The rest would be a direct purchase in the restaurant chain operator, the sources added, declining to specify the percentage stake that Temasek would acquire. "The deal is done and an announcement is likely very soon,"one of the sources said.

Devyani International operates more than 300 outlets of restaurant and coffee chains including Pizza Hut, KFC and Costa Coffee in India and other southeast Asian countries, according to its website.

Temasek and ICICI Venture declined to comment, while Devyani International officials did not immediately return phone calls seeking comments.

Private equity funds have invested US$4.6 billion in India so far this year, compared with US$3.1 billion in 2013, Thomson Reuters data showed. Consumer-related investments contributed to a fifth of the total private equity inflows so far this year.

-REUTERS