French contract catering company, Elior Group, effects two major acquisitions in India in record time

French contract catering company, Elior Group, effects two major acquisitions in India in record time

France-based Elior Group, one of the world's leading operators in the contracted food industry, announced completion of simultaneous acquisitions of two Indian contract catering companies for business and industry - Megabite Food Services and C Ramachandran Catering Ltd. (CRCL) - in record time. While Elior has wholly acquired Megabite, it has picked up a majority stake in CRCL. 

These acquisitions were completed in record time of 48 hours – a first for a foreign multinational company (MNC) in India. This not only marked  Elior’s entry into India's corporate food service industry, but also helped it emerge as the top three players in the segment, with 3,500 employees on its rolls. 

The newly formed subsidiary, Elior India, will serve 1.35 lakh meals each day to employees of companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, MRF, Daimler, Pfizer and Shell. 

Elior also announced the appointment of Sanjay Kumar as the CEO of its newly formed subsidiary, Elior India Food Services LLP. Kumar, who was the brain behind Elior’s entry into India, will be responsible for the company’s operations in the country. He will report directly to Philippe Salle, Chairman and CEO of Elior Group and will also be a member of the Group Management Committee. 

Talking about the acquisitions, Kumar said, “This is a watershed moment in Elior’s 25-year history. The India market offers a lot of promise and we expect to generate annual revenues of $100 million through our acquisitions. Our aim is to create a national footprint through more acquisition-driven consolidations, whilst also continuing to focus on quality, safety, and the strengths of our acquisitions – all of which are our key differentiators. We are confident that our India operations will help open an exciting new chapter of growth for the company as it allows us to expand into other emerging markets, which is one of the key objectives to meet our 2020 goals.”

 Elior India aspires to become a $100 mn company in India by 2020, a company release said.

The article was published on hospitalitybizindia.com on May 09,2017