Differences simmer in family of Adiga's eatery

It was one of the best boutique deals when New Silk Route Private Equity picked up a stake in city-based quick-service restaurant chain Adiga’s Group. But two months after the deal was stitched, the Adiga family members seem to be fighting over the use of brand name ‘Adiga’s’.

K N Vasudev Adiga, a second-generation entrepreneur, started the chain in 1994. Besides making a name in the catering business, he has managed to establish the chain as a leading quick-service restaurant chain in Bangalore under the brand name of ‘Vasudev Adiga’s’.

His brother, Radhakrishna Adiga, runs six restaurants in Bangalore under the brand name of ‘Adiga’s’, but suffixed with another name based on the location of the restaurant.

 

Vasudev maintains ‘Adiga’s’ is a brand built by him and he has a registered trade mark for the same. And, it is synonymous with his chain of restaurants and if anyone else wants to use the brand name, he has to pay a licence fee.

However, Radhakrishna is firm that ‘Adiga’ is a family name and he has the right to use it as well, according to people close to him. “It is an internal family issue and we are discussing on how best to resolve this,” a family member close to Radhakrishna told Business Standard.

Vasudev claims ‘Adiga’s’ and ‘Vasudev Adiga’s’ his intellectual properties and his brothers have signed agreements with him to that extent and there is no discussion on this.

Vasudev took the private equity route in an effort to expand from a single-city format to a multi-city level. According to investment bankers close to New Silk Route Private Equity, the enterprise valuation of the transaction was in the range of Rs 100 crore.

Vasudev runs 14 restaurants and counts corporate names like SAP, NDS, Ingersoll Rand and Honeywell among its top clients. He comes from a family of restaurateurs who had set up city’s well-known neighbourhood restaurant Brahmins Coffee Bar. Radhakrishna manages it on behalf of his parents.