Reliance Retail, as per reports is now planning to put Subway India on its bouquet of offering. After grocery, ed-tech, music, e-pharmacy, payments, fashion and furniture, Mukesh Ambani is now eyeing to invest in the quick service restaurant (QSR) business.
According to relevant sources, news is that Reliance Industries is in talks with the world’s largest single brand restaurant chain, Subway Inc, to buy its India franchise for $200-250 million (Rs 1,488-1,860 crore.
Subway does business in India through several regional master franchisees. Globally, the company is undergoing a restructuring under chief executive John Chidsey to move headquarters, slash costs and global headcount amid plummeting sales, warring franchisees and growing speculation of a world-wide takeover.
If everything goes well then this takeover will provide RIL retail unit a network of 600-odd Subway stores across India and help further diversify its omnichannel initiatives to more segments. If Reliance enters this domain, then it will be competing in India’s organised QSR market against other global players like Domino’s Pizza, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, and their local partners such as the Tata Group and the JubilantGroup.
In India, Subway controls about 6% share of India’s Rs 18,800 crore organised QSR market while Domino’s, the market leader, has a 21% share, followed by McDonald’s with 11%.
