Fast-food chain Wow Momo Foods plans to go public within two years, its chief executive said. The dumpling brand aims to replicate the rapid expansion of Domino's Pizza in India, which is $5 billion fast-food sector. Valued at Rs 2,500 crore ($299.33 million) with a network of 650 stores, Wow Momo plans to become the first major local fast-food chain to go public.
Wow Momo, which is backed by Tiger Global, reported revenue of around Rs 480 crore ($57.47 million) for the fiscal year ending in March (FY24), is aiming to double its revenue to Rs 1,000 crore over the next 30 months, co-founder and CEO Sagar Daryani told news agency Reuters.
"The public markets are really, really growing ... One homegrown fast-food chain IPO in India will change the script for fast-food play (in the country)," Daryani said.
The stock market has hit record highs over 50 times this year, with nearly 200 companies, including e-scooter maker Ola Electric, telecom operator Bharti Hexacom and housing finance Bajaj Housing Finance raising billions.
In the restaurant sector, franchisees of Western brands like KFC, McDonald's, Burger King, and Domino's have gone public in the past decade. Last restaurant brand to list was of Barbeque-Nation Hospitality, which went public three-year ago.
Shares of Bengaluru, Karnataka-based Barbeque-Nation have climbed over 30 per cent from their initial public offering (IPO) price despite seeing some challenges with footfalls among inflation-weary consumers.
Daryani said he plans to replicate Jubilant FoodWorks' success, which has expanded Domino's from a single store in India in 1996 to over 1,800 outlets. Wow Momo plans to increase its store count to 1,000 and become profitable on the basis of a core earnings metric within two years.
(With inputs from Reuters)