Impresario Raises Rs 550 Crore From India Resurgence Fund

Updated on: 18 November 2022 12:00 am

The fintech plans to aggressively hire software engineers, technical leads and product managers for the launch of its flagship product in January 2023

CheQ to add over 100 employees to its technology team Photo: The fintech plans to aggressively hire software engineers, technical leads and product managers for the launch of its flagship product in January 2023

Investment platform India Resurgence Fund (IRF) has invested Rs 550 crore ($66.5 million) in restaurant chain company Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality. Piramal Enterprises Ltd and global private equity major Bain Capital back this fund.

With this latest capital infusion, IRF has become the largest shareholder of Impresario Entertainment. Private equity firm L Catterton, which earlier backed the company, has now exited its five-year-long investment.

Lodha Capital Markets, the Mumbai-based investment bank, was the exclusive financial advisor to L Catterton and Impresario Entertainment on this transaction.

Follow our WhatsApp channel

Since the last few months, the Asian wing of L Catterton has been in talks to divest its investment in Impresario. Facing a high cash crunch, the restaurant company was also looking to raise funds from a new investor.

Impresario manages an umbrella of restaurant brands, including Social, Mocha, Smoke House Deli, Salt Water Cafe and Slink and Bardotacross 60 cities in 17 countries.

"While the journey through the pandemic was especially tough for the restaurant sector, we were able to sustain and strengthen our business. As we begin a new chapter with IRF, we look forward to a fruitful collaboration that will propel Impresario to an exciting next growth stage. We look forward to building on the momentum we have generated over the years with L Catterton, which shared its consumer insights and industry expertise to help us grow," Riyaaz Amlani, founder and managing director of Impresario, said in a statement.

IRF claimed that the new investment would help Impresario strengthen its business in the post-pandemic world.

"The fresh capital will help fuel the further expansion of Impresario's business, which also received an investment from L Catterton in 2017 and has since demonstrated resilient growth over the years despite facing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic," the company claimed in a statement.

Impresario has been readying itself to spread into new geographies and expand its presence outside India. It recently elevated Satyajit Dhingra as the Group's first Chief Business Officer (CBO) to double the restaurant chain's footprint from 60 to 120 outlets across 30 cities over the next few years.