이 기사는 2020년 01월 08일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s SkyLake Investment has kicked off the process to sell Outback Steakhouse Korea, hiring Credit Suisse (CS) to handle the sale. They are expected to send a teaser letter to potential buyers in a few days.

SkyLake Investment has picked Credit Suisse as lead manager for the sale of its stake in Outback Steakhouse, sources familiar with the matter said on January 3. “SkyLake Investment tapped several investment banks before ultimately choosing Credit Suisse to manage the sale process,” said one of the sources. “Credit Suisse’s high level of confidence in success of the planned sale played a major role.”

“We plan to mandate Credit Suisse soon to run the sale process,” a SkyLake Investment representative said, adding that a specific timeline has not been set yet.

The homegrown private equity firm acquired a 100 percent stake in Outback Steakhouse Korea from Bloomin' Brands Inc. for 57 billion won ($48.8 million) in 2016 when the U.S. casual dining company pulled out of the country. At the time, Hyundai Department Store, one of the country’s top three department stores, had also made an offer, but ended up dropping out of the bidding process due to the difference in valuation.

SkyLake Investment’s acquisition of Outback Steakhouse was considered an unexpected move, given the firm’s previous track record focused on the information technology sector.

Under SkyLake Investment’s ownership, Outback Steakhouse Korea has seen a significant improvement in finance performance. In 2018, the steak chain posted 230 billion won ($197 million) of revenue, up more than 13 percent year-on-year. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 50 percent annually during the period of 2016 to 2018, while operating income increased fivefold in the same period. This upward trend in earnings is expected to have continued in 2019.

SkyLake Investment focused its effort on increasing steak sales by elevating the stake chain’s brand image. The firm added T-bone steak on the menu and also shifted from frozen meat to chilled meat.

“Some headwinds in the food industry including increasing labor cost could affect the sale in a negative way,” said an industry insider. “But the upward trend in earnings performance of Outback is likely to attract interest from potential buyers.”

SkyLake Investment funded its acquisition of Outback Steakhouse through its 10th blind-pool fund. In the mean time, the fund also invested in companies in various sectors, including insurance sales agency A+Asset Adivisor and accommodation booking platform Yanolja, as the private equity firm put efforts to diversify its portfolio.

In particular, A+Asset Adivisor reportedly plans to take itself public this year. NH Investment & Securities and IBK Investment & Securities are acting as joint bookrunners.

(By reporter Kim Byung-yoon)