Ho Chi Minh City-headquartered investment fund Mekong Capital says it has sold its stake in the fast-growing artisan pizza business Pizza 4P’s.
The company did not identify to who it had sold the shares, or indicate its investment return on the company.
Pizza 4P’s was launched by a Japanese couple Yosuke and Sanae Masuko in 2011 with a single store making wood-fired gourmet pizzas. It quickly drew a cult following among expatriates and locals alike and when Mekong Capital invested in 2018 had expanded to eight restaurants.
Today Pizza 4P’s has 27 restaurants in Vietnam and Cambodia and has developed an FMCG product range including frozen pizzas and pasta, handmade cheeses and condiments, sold through supermarkets and convenience stores. Inside Retail understands the company has been approached by potential partners in several Asian markets with a view to franchising the restaurant concept and the company may have been seeking a shareholder to help it pursue international growth.
Chris Freund, a partner at Mekong Capital, said his company was proud of the chain’s three-fold network growth during the past four years.
“Under the leadership of Masuko and Sanae, Pizza 4P’s has continued to set and raise the standards for the quality of food and service among any restaurant group in Vietnam. It’s an amazing achievement that Pizza 4P’s has expanded from eight locations to 27 while maintaining such high standards, and each new location performed very well.”
From its original store in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Pizza 4P’s – which is a shortened version of ‘Pizzas for Peace’ – now has outlets in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Binh Duong.
The company’s inaugural Cambodian store in Phnom Penh and its recently opened Binh Duong outlet were featured in the recently released Asia’s Most Innovative Sustainable Retailers report compiled by Inside Retail.
Under what it calls an Earth-to-People concept, Pizza 4P’s is committed to serving “safe and fresh foods directly from Mother Earth” to its guests. Homemade quality cheese is produced in Dalat, Vietnam’s highlands produce hub, where the company also grows its own herbs and vegetables. It has also begun converting food waste into compost.
Mekong Capital’s stake in Pizza 4P’s was owned by its Mekong Enterprise Fund III, launched in 2015, a private equity fund with US$112.5 million currently committed in capital. Its other investments include the quick-service restaurant chain Red Wok (formerly Wrap & Roll), and the retail pharmacy chain Pharmacity.
