Taste Holdings, which holds the local rights to iconic global brands Starbucks and Domino’s, will restructure operations and initiate another capital raise in a bid to add a stronger profit flavour to its food business. On Wednesday, Taste announced that it would put its luxury brands division — comprising Arthur Kaplan Jewellers and NWJ — up for sale. The market has long questioned the mix of fast foods and jewellery retail, but there was some surprise at the sale announcement, considering the economic climate might not be conducive to selling specialist retail assets. Fresh Capital The sale announcement coincided with proposals for Taste to raise R120m in fresh capital in a rights offer. Taste CEO Carlo Gonzaga said proceeds from the rights offer and jewellery sale would be used to settle debt of about R300m and to roll out more Domino’s Pizza and Starbucks outlets. The latest rights issue will mean that Taste — which has a market capitalisation of R760m — has raised more than R62...
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