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Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's son James is taking control of Adyar Ananda Bhavan, one of south India's best-known vegetarian restaurant and sweet-shop chains, after the investment firm he runs with Indian media executive Uday Shankar agreed to pay $180 million (about ₹17.1 billion) for a majority stake.
Bodhi Tree Systems, the firm Murdoch's Lupa Systems formed with Shankar in 2022, agreed to the deal on Thursday. The 50-year-old Chennai-based chain, known as A2B, gives up majority ownership in a transaction it described as a strategic partnership. The money is meant to fund the brand's expansion, including overseas.
Bodhi Tree had earlier held advanced talks to buy into the chain at a valuation of ₹30 billion to ₹35 billion ($315 million to $368 million).
The chain and the buyer
A2B began as a sweet shop in Chennai and grew into a chain of vegetarian restaurants, sweet counters and packaged snacks across south India. It sells traditional dishes such as dosas and idlis alongside its sweets.
Bodhi Tree launched with financial backing from the Qatar Investment Authority, which agreed in 2022 to invest $1.5 billion through the platform. Its earlier deals include an agreement that year to invest about $1.8 billion in Reliance Industries Ltd.'s Viacom18 Media Pvt., which it later scaled back, and $600 million in the test-preparation company Allen Career Institute.
The Murdoch connection
James Murdoch, 53, is the younger son of Rupert Murdoch, who built the News Corp. and Fox Corp. media empire. He ran 21st Century Fox as chief executive until its entertainment assets were sold to Walt Disney Co. in 2019, then left the family business and set up Lupa Systems, a private holding company that invests in media, technology and other ventures.
In September 2025, Rupert Murdoch settled a long fight over the family trust that controls News Corp. and Fox. The deal handed control to his eldest son, Lachlan, and bought out James and his sisters Elisabeth and Prudence, who each received about $1.1 billion.
Shankar is a former president of Walt Disney Asia Pacific and former chairman of Star India, where he worked closely with James Murdoch when Star was part of the Murdoch empire. He is now vice chairman of JioStar, the media joint venture of Reliance Industries and Disney.
Figures were converted at ₹95.2 to the dollar.
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