KFC, Pizza Hut operator Sapphire Foods sets IPO price band of Rs 1,120-1,180/share

Sapphire Foods India, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut outlets, on Tuesday said it has fixed a price band of Rs 1,120-1,180 a share for its Rs 2,073-crore initial public offering (IPO). The initial share-sale will open on November 9 and conclude on November 11. The bidding for anchor investors will open on November 8, the company announced.

The IPO will be entirely an offer for sale (OFS) of 1,75,69,941 equity shares by promoters and existing shareholders. As a part of the OFS, QSR Management Trust will sell 8.50 lakh shares, Sapphire Foods Mauritius Ltd will offload 55.69 lakh shares, WWD Ruby Ltd will divest 48.46 lakh shares and Amethyst will offer 39.62 lakh shares. In addition, AAJV Investment Trust will sell 80,169 shares, Edelweiss Crossover Opportunities Fund will offload 16.15 lakh shares and Edelweiss Crossover Opportunities Fund-Series II will divest 6.46 lakh shares.

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At the upper end of the price band, the initial public offering is expected to fetch Rs 2,073 crore. The company said that up to 75 per cent of the shares has been reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs), 15 per cent for non-institutional buyers and the remaining 10 per cent for retail investors. Sapphire Foods, an omni-channel restaurant operator and the largest franchisee of Yum Brands in the Indian sub-continent, is backed by marquee investors such as Samara Capital, Goldman Sachs, CX Partners and Edelweiss.

As of March 31, 2021, Sapphire Foods owned and operated 204 KFC restaurants in India and the Maldives, 231 Pizza Hut restaurants in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and two Taco Bell restaurants in Sri Lanka. JM Financial, BofA Securities, ICICI Securities and IIFL Securities are the lead managers to the company’s public issue. The equity shares of the company will be listed on BSE and NSE. Devyani International, which is the other franchisee of Yum! Brands in India, operates 297 Pizza Hut stores and 264 KFC stores. It launched its Rs 1,838-crore IPO in August.