이 기사는 2021년 11월 23일 08:05 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

The Carlyle Group has bought South Korea's No. 2 coffee chain A Twosome Place in its first buyout investment in seven years in Korea.

Carlyle has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of A Twosome Place, one of the leading premium cafe chain operators in South Korea, from Anchor Equity Partners, industry sources said on Friday. The value of the deal has not been disclosed, but industry sources estimated the coffee chain to be valued between 800 billion ($675 million) and 900 billion won.

It is the first time in seven years that Carlyle has reached a buyout deal in the Korean market. The US buyout firm acquired ADT Caps, the country's second-largest security services provider, in May 2014 and sold it to a consortium led by SK Telecom in 2018. After that, Carlyle bought minority stakes in KB Financial Group and Kakao Mobility.

Carlyle was the first global PE firm to enter the Korean market and has continued investment activities. Its investments, however, have slowed down in recent years. In 2019, the firm named John Kim as a managing director of the Asia Buyout Team to accelerate its investment activities here.

Carlyle is said to have paid attention to A Twosome Place’s strong brand and position in the nation’s premium cafe sector. A Twosome Place is the country’s second largest coffeehouse chain after Starbucks. Anchor Equity Partners also reportedly emphasized that A Twosome Place is the No.1 among homegrown coffee chains.

Established in 2002, A Twosome Place is currently operating over 1,400 stores. It is uniquely positioned as a premium dessert cafe, offering a variety of high-quality cake and dessert choices to differentiate itself from its peers.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the coffee chain’s operating profit increased by 3 billion won in 2020 to 38.8 billion won from 2019. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) grew to 70.9 billion won in 2020 from 59.5 billion won in 2019.

The Korean coffee chain brand was valued at 400 billion won in February 2018 in a pre-IPO funding round. Anchor Equity Partners at the time purchased 40% of the coffee company from CJ Foodville, and then acquired an additional 45% stake in May 2019 and the remaining 15% in July 2020 to wholly own the company.

Carlyle has a well-established history of investing in the consumer and retail sector, having invested more than $24 billion in over 135 consumer and retail companies globally as of September 30, 2021.

As the new owner of A Twosome Place, Carlyle will leverage its consumer and retail industry expertise, global network and resources to further strengthen the coffee chain's brand, optimize its store footprint, and enhance its product offerings and marketing capabilities.

Standard Chartered Securities, local law firm Bae, Kim & Lee, and Samil PwC advised the buyer on the deal, while Citigroup Global Markets Korea Securities and Kim & Chang advised the seller. (Reporting by Hee-yeon Han)