Aditya Birla New Age, the hospitality arm of the aluminium-to-insurance Aditya Birla Group, said Tuesday it has bought Asian eateries chain operator KA Hospitality Pvt Ltd.
With this buyout, Aditya Birla New Age has added fine dining chains Hakkasan, Yauatcha, Nara Thai and CinCin to its portfolio, the company said in a statement. It didn’t disclose financial terms of the deal.
In April this year, VCCircle was the first to report that Aditya Birla New Age was scouting for acquisitions in the premium casual dining and fine dining categories and that it was in discussions with the Mumbai-based KA Hospitality.
In February, Aditya Birla Group announced its foray into the premium casual dining space and said it would open restaurants in collaboration with chef-restaurateur Rahul Akerkar.
Aditya Birla New Age is led by Aryaman Vikram Birla, son of group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, and currently operates Jolie’s, a members-only luxury club in Worli, Mumbai.
KA Hospitality was founded by Kishor Bajaj, who passed away in March this year. His daughter Karyna joined the business in 2016 but broke away from the fine-dine format and launched Nara. Later, she also floated CinCin.
“At Aditya Birla New Age Hospitality, our vision is to create an unmatched portfolio of food and beverage brands within the country. Each of the four brands uniquely stands out while maintaining a steadfast commitment to delivering exceptional culinary experiences,” said Aryaman Vikram Birla.
KA Hospitality’s sales declined drastically in FY21 as the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the hospitality and travel sectors. It managed Rs 40 crore in revenue and booked a loss that year.
However, it rebounded in FY22 with revenue of Rs 72 crore and EBITDA of Rs 20 crore. The company may have generated revenue of between Rs 100 crore and Rs 120 crore and an EBITDA of Rs 25-30 crore in FY23, as per analysts given the pace of growth of the company.
