Pizza Hut, KFC, Costa Coffee, brand owner eyes listing

With the successful listing of Jubilant Foodworks earlier this year, the FMCG and retail space has become quite appetising, and serial entrepreneur Ravi Jaipuria is all set to tuck into it, reports CNBC-TV18's Sunanda Jayaseelan.

This may be his latest venture, but business magnate Ravi Jaipuria is confident he has stirred up a captivating brew. As he looks to expand, Jaipuria is drawing up a fund raising roadmap. Jaipuria-owned Devyani International, which owns brands like Pizza Hut, KFC, and Costa Coffee, is looking at divesting a 15-20% stake in the company through a listing. This is expected to hit Dalal Street early next year.

Ravi Jaipuria, Chairman, RJ Corporation, said, "We are working with Yum Resturants to get their approval. Once that is through we will look at a listing." That approval, the company said, should come through by June this year.

Simultaneously, RJ Corporation says it will look at a private equity investment to the extent of 10 per cent in Varun Beverages, which is one of the biggest bottlers for Pepsi. All the funds raised will be used towards expansion. This includes adding capacity for its Pepsi-related operations, and opening 500 Costa Coffee outlets by 2015.

These outlets, however, will initially be concentrated in the metros.

Santhosh Unni, CEO, Costa Coffee, said, "In the first phase, we are planning to open stores in NCR, Mumbai, Calcutta. We are basically a metro focused coffee chain, but we could also look at Tier II towns later on."

A larger domestic presence is not enough. RJ Corporation will also increase its global footprint in this fiscal year. This fizz to its operations will come in the form of bottling plants for Pepsi  in the African nations of Zimbabwe and Malawi, thus supplementing its presence in Zambia and Mozambique.