Japan’s Mitsui & Co. is considering investing in a venture with Future Group that will supply fresh food to Foodhall, Big Bazaar, upcoming 7-Eleven stores, as well as retailers and restaurants owned by other firms, persons in the know told The Economic Times.
“Mitsui is exploring possibilities of investing into a venture with Future Group either through an existing company or in a separate venture,” one of the persons said, asking not to be named.
Tokyo-based Mitsui operates 7-Eleven stores in the Chinese city of Chongqing in a consortium along with 7-Eleven and a Chinese agribusiness company. Kishore Biyani’s Future Group is expected to roll out 7-Eleven-branded convenience stores in Mumbai early next year, the report said.
The proposed Future-Mitsui company plans to provide sandwiches, pizzas, bakery items, salads, cut-fruit and a raft of beverages including ice tea, coffee and juices, the person added.
7-Eleven is Japanese-owned and based in Texas. It is the world’s largest chain of convenience stores and operates 69,000 outlets in 17 countries, with about 11,800 of them in North America, the report added.
Meanwhile, Ola-backed Scooter rental startup Vogo Automotive Pvt. Ltd is looking to raise $40 million (Rs 286 crore at current exchange rate) in an equity round of funding led by Lightstone Aspada and South Korean investor Mirae Asset Management, three people aware of the matter told Mint.
This follows an aborted bid by Vogo to raise $50 million from Goldman Sachs.
Aspada is set to invest up to $15 million and Mirae will put close to $4 million in the round. Existing investors venture capital firm Stellaris Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Kalaari Capital will spend the rest, the persons said.
Recently, Vogo received Rs 28 crore from existing investors.
In October last year, VCCircle reported that Vogo had raised debt funding from Alteria Capital.
