Ekuinas sells off SF Coffee

Private equity fund management company  Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) has sold its 100% stake in Lyndarahim Ventures, the holding company of San Francisco Coffee (SF Coffee), for RM 24 million.In a statement, the government-linked private equity fund management company said it was disposing of its 90% equity stake in SF Coffee as part of its restructuring exercise of food and beverages portfolio.Ekuinas, together with its partner Abdul Rahim, had signed a conditional agreement with a consortium comprising Platinum Appreciation and Brothers Coffee Ventures (formerly known as Brothers Burger Ventures) for the divestment of SF Coffee.Platinum Appreciation is a wholly-owned unit of Envictus International Holdings, a company listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.“The consortium was selected after it submitted the best offer under a sale process that attracted the interest of a number of local and international parties,” it said.In August however, Ekuinas has expressed its interest to focus and expand its F&B portfolio following its divestment of Burger King Malaysia & Singapore. The expansion was said to include SF Coffee: “This exercise has also enabled to fully focus and expand on the core casual dining and beverage segments with brands such as Tony Roma’s, Manhattan Fish Market, New York Steak Shack, Coolblog and San Francisco Coffee. These F&B brands under Integrated Food Group (IFG) are growing well with combined revenue of RM338.0 million and EBITDA of RM36.5 million operating through more than 400 outlets across several regions,” Abdul Rahman, CEO of Ekuinas, had said in a statement.Now, Abdul Rahman once again said the divestment would enable the company to fully focus on its core casual dining and dessert franchise segments, covering the remaining brands such as Tony Roma’s, Manhattan Fish Market, New York Steak Shack and Coolblog.“Together, these brands generate a combined revenue of approximately RM300mil operating through more than 400 outlets across several regions,” Abdul Rahman said.