<article>After months of negotiations, Jayaram Banan, founder of the south Indian restaurant chain <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/sagar-ratna" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sagar Ratna</a>, has regained 100 per cent stake in the company from private equity firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreteasia.com/tag/india-equity-partners" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India Equity Partners (IEP Fund Advisors)</a>.</article>

After months of negotiations, Jayaram Banan, founder of the south Indian restaurant chain <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreetasia.com/tag/sagar-ratna" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sagar Ratna</a>, has regained 100 per cent stake in the company from private equity firm <a style="color: #000080;" href="http://dealstreteasia.com/tag/india-equity-partners" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India Equity Partners (IEP Fund Advisors)</a>.
Banan acquired the controlling stake in the chain through his company Ocean Pearl Hotels for an undisclosed amount.
In 2011, IEP had acquired a 77 per cent stake in Sagar Ratna for about Rs 135 crore, with Banan holding the remaining stake in the food chain.
Banan and the private equity firm have been embroiled in many disputes since the investment, resulting in the investor wanting to exit the firm even without a profit.
According to earlier media reports, the buyback talks came up in the wake of IEP&#8217;s inability to find buyers since putting its stake on the block in the middle of 2016, following conflicts over quality and governance with Banan.
Banan, who had founded Sagar Ratna in 1986, also has another restaurant chain under the Swagath brand.
Since 2011, when IEP took control of the chain, Sagar Ratna has added 46 outlets taking the total number to 95 operational restaurants, mostly in the northern part of the country. It now has plans to expand the number of outlets to 300 by 2020, while targeting aggressive overseas expansion in the US, Gulf Cooperation Council and Australia.
Also Read:
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<a style="color: #ff0000;" href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/india-dealbook-101-60725/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India Digest: Rakesh Jhunjhunwala buys Mandhana stake; Banan eyes Sagar Ratna buyback</a>
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Jayaram Banan, founder of the restaurant chain Sagar Ratna, has regained 100 per cent stake in the company from private equity firm India Equity Partners.

India: Restaurant chain Sagar Ratna promoter buys back controlling stake from PE firm

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India: Restaurant chain Sagar Ratna promoter buys back controlling stake from PE firm

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