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The Delhi-based French patisserie and bakery chain L’Opera is looking to raise ₹40 crore to fund its pan-India expansion. The high-end pastry and bakery chain has also appointed Langham Capital as its financial advisor.
The chain, which opened its first outlet in 2011, now runs 13 outlets in Delhi and Gurugram, and the founders have already invested over ₹25 crore on establishing the brand.
It plans to take the number of outlets from 13 to 65 in the next five years and for this needs to invest ₹40 crore.
New cities Kazem Samandari, Chairman, L’Opera told BusinessLine , “Encouraged by the consumers feedback, we now have plans to take the brand across the country. We aim to next open outlets in cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Dehradun.” “We are in advanced talks with potential investors such as VCs, private equity funds, individuals as well as other strategic investors. We hope to complete this fund raising exercise by the end of December.
“However, we are looking for more than just money from potential investors. We also want them to be true partners who will bring in expertise to help us scale up our operations,” Samandari added. The promoters of the bakery chain aim to achieve break-even by March 2017. “Our stores are profitable. But we are investing in new stores, so at the corporate level we hope to become profitable by the end of this fiscal year,” he added.
Production facilities Samandari said that the promoters will continue to retain the majority stake and are looking to dilute a minority stake.
L’Opera operates through various formats, which includes large and small format stores as well as the shop-n-shop format at premium grocery chains. It has a large production centre in Noida to service its outlets in the Delhi-NCR region.
“As we expand to new cities, we will also set up two new production facilities or commissaries at Mumbai and Bengaluru to service our outlets in these regions. Besides opening up smaller production facilities in Pune and Chennai,” Samandari added.
“Indian consumers are increasingly becoming more demanding and mature and they are looking for an authentic experience. We believe there is a huge potential for growth in the country,” he added.
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