One of the largest food court operators in India and operator of major food brands such as the upcoming American restaurant chain IHOP, the Kwals Group, has partnered with leading investment and advisory firm, Now Capital Group.
The idea is to increase the portfolio and scale of both companies.
In addition to the current capital infused by KWALS and Now Capital, the firms plan to infuse over Rs. 200 crores to execute their national expansion strategy through organic growth and acquisitions of key businesses. Now Capital has infused an undisclosed amount and will help KWals infuse that much amount across all their businesses.
Kwals has most recently signed a multi-unit franchise deal with Dine Equity to launch IHOP restaurants in India, with the first store to be opened in Cyberhub Gurgaon in the coming months.
India is the 19th country for IHOP and furthers the plans of Kwals to expand their mark across formats and brands. IHOP – International House of Pancakes – plans to win the market through its USP: eggless pancakes, bottomless tea/coffee and an indulgent all day dining menu. Late night menus and options are in the works as well.
Sahil Baweja and Ankit Gupta of Now Capital will join the advisory board of Kwals and help formulate investment strategy and expansion plans of the Kwals Group. This will further solidify the team, which already boasts of prominent industry veterans including Sanjay Sachdeva (previously with the Devyani group) and Gaurav Bawa (previously with Nandos and Yum!).
Elaborating on the plans, Director, Now Capital, Sahil Baweja, commented, “As we continue to grow our F&B footprint, we are entering into strategic partnerships and investing across the spectrum from QSR to fine dining. We are immensely confident that ‘new segments’ such as American breakfast and all day dining will be the elusive growth drivers for the restaurant industry. Both the companies have a unified vision which is being powered through this strategic investment and on-going advisory.”
Director, Kwals Group, Sameer Lamba, sharing his vision commented, “We are excited about the partnership with Now Capital.The Now team brings immense domain expertise that complements our current team. Through this new commitment, we are looking forward to facilitate new ventures and expanding our footprint across the country through various new brands and formats, starting first with IHOP.”
Director, Now Capital, Ankit Gupta, further added, “In addition to infusing funds, we are working closely with the Kwals team to provide real estate advisory, financial structuring and developing the go to market strategy to ensure that each of Kwals’ ventures remains cash flow positive and meets expansion goals.”
In addition to Kwals, Now Foods – the F&B division of Now Capital – has equity positions in Carls Jr. India, Boombox Café India, Chai Thela, and franchises of Keventers. Upcoming projects include Blacktail, a luxury Polo Bar on Golf Course Road Gurgaon, a restaurant brand with Punjabi icon Gurdas Maan and a celebrity chef driven Indian restaurant.
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