PETALING JAYA, May 3 — Loob Holdings Sdn Bhd, the franchisor of the Tealive bubble tea chain, has now franchised its business to India.

World Iconic Brands Hospitality Pvt Ltd (WIB) has secured the master franchisee rights and plans to open 140 stores in three Indian cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore — within the next five years.

At the signing ceremony today, WIB was represented by founder Gaurav Marya, who is also the chairman of Franchise India, Asia’s largest integrated franchise solutions company and the majority owner of WIB.

"In Malaysia, we serve 2.5 million consumers each month in our 175 outlets and India being a tea-loving country, we see a huge potential for our product,” said Bryan Loo, chief executive of Loob Holdings.

Citing the Indian Tea Association’s data, Gaurav said the country produced 1.3 million tonnes of tea in 2017.

"I believe Tealive presents a huge opportunity in the country where people relate to the concept in a big way. Tealive is an ideal partner to introduce a modern tea-culture to India, which itself has a long tradition of enjoying tea,” said Gaurav.

Also present at today’s signing were officials from the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) and the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

Other than Malaysia, Tealive also operates five outlets in Vietnam.