L Catterton said to be in talks to acquire minority stake in Bengaluru-based Nandhana Palace

“The Andhra-cuisine restaurant chain is also in discussions with other funds, but L Catterton may likely have an edge, given its deep expertise in the consumer sector,” a second person said.

Mint reported in December that Nandhana had sought a valuation of ₹2,000 crore when it was in talks with Dubai-based investment firm Pulsar Capital, but that did not materialize.

That valuation was at the higher end and may evolve or change, depending on the buyer, two of the people said.

L Catterton is 60% owned by private equity firm Catterton and the remaining 40% is jointly owned by French luxury brand LVMH and Groupe Arnault. The firm manages $40 billion of equity capital and has made over 300 investments in consumer brands globally and in India.

Nandhana Palace, founded in 2004 by Ravichandar Ramaswamy, is an Andhra-style restaurant chain with 27 outlets across Bengaluru and Chennai. Ramaswamy’s daughters later joined the business to build what the company described as a “tasty yet healthy food” brand that reflects the cuisine’s culture, environment and flavours.

The Nandhana group is expanding to other Indian cities. The company said it has grown by offering a range of formats from fine dining to indoor parties, according to its website.

Nandhana Foods Pvt. Ltd, which operates the chain, reported consolidated revenue of ₹316.1 crore in FY25 from ₹218.1 crore a year earlier and a profit of ₹28.2 crore compared with ₹11.9 crore in FY24, according to ministry of corporate affairs filings sourced from Tofler.

Broad trend

Nandhana’s fundraising attempts are part of a broader trend of investor interest in restaurant chains and dessert brands. This has been supported by expectations of a consumption boost following the goods and services tax rate cuts in September and a continued early-stage funding rush into consumer brands, leading to the emergence of several mid-sized players.

Sapphire Foods India, which operates KFC & Pizza Hut in India, is preparing to merge with Devyani International in an almost billion-dollar deal. Devyani has said it plans to acquire local chain Biryani by Kilo, while Wow! Momo raised capital from Singularity in December. Mint has reported on Subway India’s plans to tap the public markets and on Bengaluru-based The Filter Coffee raising capital from the family office of Bikaji’s promoter earlier this month.

These trends are prompting brands in the ₹100-crore revenue bracket to scout for buyers to unlock their next phase of scale. Beyond private equity and venture capital firms, strategic investors and large food companies are also pursuing acquisitions. Mint reported on Haldiram’s and Theobroma exploring such moves.

India’s food services market was valued at about $80 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 10-11% over the next five years, with the organized sector leading the expansion, Redseer said in a report earlier this year. Growth is being driven by a surge in online food delivery and a rise in organized dine-in formats, with restaurant chains benefiting from consumers’ increasing preference to eat out.

Priyamvada C

Priyamvada is a Mumbai-based business journalist at Mint. She writes about the public and private markets with a key focus on venture capital, private equity, M&As and private credit. Her coverage also spans startups and emerging businesses.Over the last two years, she has uncovered some of the largest deals and interviewed important decision-makers from India’s investment ecosystem. She likes to dabble across different formats like long forms and explainers. Her work has been consistently displayed on the publication's deals page, and she has also written multiple front-page stories.Prior to joining Mint in 2024, she worked out of Reuters’ Bengaluru bureau where she extensively covered the travel, transportation, and logistics industries. Across both her stints, Priyamvada has displayed rigour for breaking news and analyzing interesting data-driven trends. She holds a postgraduate diploma from the Asian College of Journalism's Bloomberg programme. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and trying out different cuisines. She is keen to delve deeper into the various sectors she covers and is always up for a chat. You can reach out to her at priyamvada.c@livemint.com.