Mumbai, India and Washington, DC, April 2, 2008
– Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. ("Darby"),
the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments, announced
that its Darby Asia Mezzanine Fund II ("DAMF II")
invested US$ 25 million through an affiliate in Bangalore-based
Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Ltd. (popularly known
as "Coffee Day"). Transaction details were not disclosed.
Coffee Day is Darby's third investment in India in the last
12 months.
Darby said the final equity commitments to the $300
million DAMF II were completed on October 31, 2007. Investors
include China Investment and Finance, a subsidiary of China
CITIC Bank; Mizuho Corporate Bank; Franklin Templeton Investments,
the Asian Development Bank, and two funds managed by AXA Private
Equity.
Coffee Day is one of the largest integrated coffee
players in India, with operations across the coffee value chain
from procurement and processing to retailing. It owns and operates
the largest number of coffee cafés in India under the
brand "Café Coffee Day". The funds will be
deployed in expanding Coffee Day's presence across India and
in parts of Europe.
Richard H. Frank, Darby's Chief Executive Officer,
commented: "Coffee Day has successfully consolidated its
market leader status and is positioned to take further advantage
of the ongoing macroeconomic, demographic and lifestyle changes.
We are attracted to ABC because of its leadership position within
India's rapidly expanding consumer lifestyle segment and its
strong execution capabilities."
Mr. V.G. Siddhartha, Chairman of Amalgamated Bean Coffee,
said of the investment: "We are pleased to have an experienced
and prestigious investor such as Darby on board and look forward
to a productive partnership."
Darby's first Asia mezzanine fund was launched in 1998
and became fully invested in 2004. The firm has been a pioneer
in providing mezzanine products – a hybrid of both debt
and equity – to emerging market regions, including Latin
America, Asia, and more recently Central and Eastern Europe.
In July 2006 Darby and Hana Bank, one of Korea's leading financial
institutions, announced the closing of their jointly managed
Korea Emerging Infrastructure Fund "KEIF," which raised
KRW580 billion (approximately US$586 million), and is currently
30% invested.
Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd. was founded in 1994
by The Honorable Nicholas F. Brady, who served as U.S. Secretary
of the Treasury between 1988 and 1993. In 2003 Darby became
a fully owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN],
a global investment management organization operating as Franklin
Templeton Investments. Franklin Templeton Institutional, a
unit of Franklin Templeton Investments, provides global and
domestic investment management solutions managed by the Franklin
Global Advisers, Templeton, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income,
Franklin Templeton Real Estate Advisors, Darby and Mutual
Series investment management teams. The San Mateo, California-based
company has 60 years of investment experience and over US$600
billion in assets under management as of February 29, 2008.
