Evolution Capital eyes Southeast Asia for further expansion

The listed company expects its revenue from food business to reach Bt3 billion by 2017, compared with sales of between Bt400 million and Bt500 million expected for this year, said Sanjay Singh, chief executive officer, food business group.

Food business now represents 85 per cent of the company’s turnover.

Evolution Capital’s acquisition of Fico Foods in August last year, including the exclusive franchise in Thailand for Domino’s Pizza and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, allows it to fast-track its growth in the food and beverage sector, which up until July 2012 included the exclusive franchise for Magnolia Bakery in Japan, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Cambodia in a partnership with a South Korean investor. 

The company has already opened two The Bean & Tea Leaf coffee houses in Phnom Penh and plans to increase the number to between eight and 10 about within the next four years, mostly in the Cambodian capital but also in destinations such as Seam Reap.

Fico Foods also owns a number of popular restaurants in Bangkok’s Thong Lor area, including The Ironfairies, Fat Gut’z, Mr Jones’ Orphanage, Clouds and Maggie Choo’s.

“We expect to invest over Bt600 million in the vast expansion of our branded restaurants: Domino’s Pizza and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. We expect to increase the total number of our branded restaurants by between 60 and 70 each by 2017. The investment will be mostly company-owned. We are also discussing with one more quick-service restaurant brand to be launched within this year,” said Singh.

Fico Coffee, a subsidiary of Evolution Capital, is the master franchisee of California-based The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Thailand. 

The first two The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee houses were opened in Bangkok at the same time, in October last year at the Siam Paragon and CentralWorld shopping complexes. Thailand is the 25th country to operate the franchise.

The company now operates 11 The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee houses and six Domino’s Pizza restaurants at prime locations in Bangkok. It plans to increase the number of stores to 17 and 12, respectively, by the end of this year.

   

Diversified business

Listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Evolution Capital is a diversified alternative-asset manager and investment firm focused on emerging Asia. 

The company manages private equity funds, real-estate funds and other investment vehicles employing a variety of investment strategies across a range of industries and asset classes, with exposure to real estate, hospitality, food and beverage, digital media, e-commerce-related businesses and financial services.

Evolution Capital is the founder and largest shareholder of Red Planet Hotels, which is the franchisee for budget hotel operator TuneHotels.com, founded by AirAsia chairman Tony Fernandes.

Red Planet Hotels acquired a 16.05-per-cent shareholding in TuneHotels.com, Asia’s leading budget hotel group, in July last year in a transformative transaction, which allows Red Planet Hotels as brand co-owner and the largest franchisee to derive value from its growth around the world.

Red Planet Hotels currently operates TuneHotels in many markets, including Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, China and Japan.

Evolution Capital also owns Monster Media, which is a digital marketing firm.

“We want to be in mass-consumption businesses. All of our businesses are about consumers. They link to all kind of consumers at the mass level and can be scaled at a very quick time,” said Singh. 

He added that the company was also looking for potential markets, such as Laos, Cambodia and South Korea, for the expansion of its food and hotel businesses, especially its owned restaurant brands, such as Mr Jones’ Orphanage.