Bangalore-based United Pizza Restaurants Private Limited, which operates a chain of US Pizza outlets in the country, has offloaded 49 per cent stake in the company to Mumbai-based Kotecha Capital for Rs 150 crore to funds its domestic and global expansion plans. | |
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| The funding will go towards expanding the number of pizza outlets in India from the existing 65 to 158 apart from foraying into the Scandinavian region in 2008. |
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| "The funds will be invested in opening new outlets to map our presence across India with special focus in secondary and tertiary cities where the brand today is popular. Smaller towns like Baruch, Belgaum, Navsari, Rajkot, Gulbarga, Bellary and Vizag have already seen successful outlets of US Pizza. We will open outlets in such towns and cities," US Pizza MD Akbar Khwaja told Business Standard. |
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| Operating mainly as a pure franchisee company, it is also looking at new outlets in the northern and eastern regions also. The brand, with an intention to widen its presence, is in talks with several retail players like PVR Cinema, Pyramid Saimira and Inox to open franchisee outlets in the multiplexes. In the past, the company had tied up with Hindustan Petroleum to open outlets at 20 of its fuel dispensing stations. |
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| The company will also open at least 1-2 flagship outlets across all major cities. Mumbai will see the first flagship outlet by March. The outlet is modeled along lines of the recently opened 5,000 sqft pizza outlet in Ahmedabad. The average size of the franchisee outlet is around 500 sqft. |
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| Khwaja said another part of the investment will go towards creating a R&D centre in Bangalore. |
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