Falcon House weighs sale of Indonesia's top European bakery -sources

By Yantoultra Ngui

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Private equity fund Falcon House Partners is mulling the sale of its controlling stake in Mount Scopus, which owns Indonesia's biggest European-style bakery chain, in a deal that could value the business at about $200 million, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The Singapore-headquartered, Southeast Asian-focused fund is talking to an adviser about the potential sale, according to two people, who declined to be identified as the matter is private.

Falcon invested in the bakery The Harvest for an undisclosed sum in 2017, according to CB Insights data.

The Harvest's founder Lal De Silva owns a minority stake, the people said.

The fund prefers to invest in companies with enterprise values from $50 million to $150 million, its website shows.

PT Mount Scopus Indonesia also owns a smaller cake and pastry chain Almondtree, according to its website.

Falcon and Harvest did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The potential sales comes as Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, sees recovery in consumption, investment and exports after coronavirus restrictions were eased.

Its gross domestic product grew for a fourth consecutive quarter in the January-March period, rising 5% driven by a strong recovery in economic activity and spending.

Indonesia's economic growth is expected to top 5% this year, the head of the finance ministry's fiscal office, Febrio Kacaribu, said in May.

GDP rose 3.69% in 2021, compared with a 2.07% contraction the year before.

Established in 2004, Mount Scopus' The Harvest has more than 91 stores in Indonesia, including in the capital Jakarta and on the holiday island of Bali, according to its website.

The Harvest makes and sells a range of pastries ranging from croissants to local traditional Lapis cake.

(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Jason Neely)