A Twosome Place: South Korean coffee chain was put up for sale

A Twosome Place is the no. 2 coffee chain brand in South Korea, and recently, it was said to have been put up for sale. It was listed on the market as Anchor Equity Partners, its largest shareholder, decided to sell its stake rather than go public for cash-out.

According to Pulse News, the private equity firm headquartered in Hong Kong has been approaching foreign and local PEFs to test if the sale will be a good decision. This information was said to have been shared on Thursday, July 19, by investment banking industry sources.

It was said that at least two major companies had shown interest in the acquisition of A Twosome Place. One of the firms was said to be the New York-based KKR & Co Inc., a capital market company, while the other one is a major local PEF, and its name was not mentioned in the reports,

Anchor Equity Partners owns a full stake at A Twosome Place that first opened in South Korea in 2002. Its very first store outlet was built in CJ Foodville, located in Shinchon, a university district in Seoul.

Since then, it has rapidly expanded, and today, it is the country’s second-largest coffee chain after Starbucks. The number of its stores increased from 100 in 2010 to 1,000 in 2018. The public knows the place to be a haven for desserts and a range of beverages; thus, it is a favorite hangout location for many.

A Twosome Place also constantly appears in Korean dramas, which helped the brand to grow exponentially. Through the drama exposures, even foreign countries that do not have this coffee franchise brand already know it.

At any rate, despite the slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic, A Twosome Place continues to thrive, and its sales even increase by 10% last year compared to the previous year. Last year, its sales grew 33%, which is equivalent to ₩365.5 billion or $318.7 million compared to 2018’s ₩274.3 billion.

Meanwhile, The Korea Times reported in May that A Twosome Place was supposed to go public. It already sent out a request for proposal (RFP) for its initial public offering (IPO) to securities companies, but as it turned out, it will not happen anymore as its stakeholder decided to sell it instead.