Papa John's acquires Pizza Corner

Atulya Mittal, the Ispat scion who earlier announced to buy stake in Pizza Corner has acquired the first Pizza brand which entered India, according to a report published by ET.

The Bangkok-based billionaire Fred Mouawad has joined hand with Papa John's owners to create India's third largest pizza chain after Domino's and Pizza Hut under the brand Papa John's.

After the partnership, Pizza Corner will merge with Papa John's and will be named Papa John's Pizza across the country.

Pizza Corner, India's first pizza brand which operates close to 70 outlets will cease to exist post the merger. The combined entity will have over 90 outlets mostly in western and southern India.

After the deal, Mouawad will become the second largest shareholder in Om Pizza & Eats after the Mittal family. TVS Capital and the Jawad group of Bahrain will continue to hold a minority stake in merged entity.

At the same time, Joseph Cherian, CEO, GFA Global will now head the merged entity and drive the growth of Papa John's in India.

"While we are focused on making the Om Pizza investment a lucrative one, we will continue to scout for more opportunities in the consumption space in India," Atulya Mittal, son of Vinod Mittal of erstwhile Ispat Industries told ET.

Post merger, Papa John's will immediately get some scale in Chennai and Bangalore. All Pizza Corner stores will be re-branded by June next year.