Hong Kong-based alternative investment firm PAG has joined the race to acquire South Korean homegrown burger chain Mom’s Touch, according to a report by The Korea Economic Daily.
South Korean private equity firm KL & Partners, which wholly owns the burger franchise, aimed to sell the burger chain at roughly $801 million last July, but the deal is expected to close at a lower price now, the report said, citing investment banking sources.
KL & Partners acquired Mom’s Touch in 2019 via its special purpose vehicle Korea F&B Holdings.
Other parties that reported to have shown interest in the acquisition but did not participate in the bidding process included Goldman Sachs, US fast-food firm Yum! Brands, and CJ Group, one of South Korea’s largest family-owned business conglomerates, the report added.
Mom’s Touch, founded in 1998, has 1,363 shops in Korea, making it the country’s largest fast-food franchise.
In 2020, PAG had sold its stake in Korean toy company Young Toys to book publisher MiraeN Group. It had acquired Young Toys in 2015 for about $200 million.
PAG focuses on investing in the APAC region across private equity, private debt, hedge funds, and real estate. The firm has more than $50 billion in assets under management and was co-founded in 2002 by Weijian Shan, Chris Gradel, and Jon-Paul Toppino.
Last month, DealStreetAsia reported that PAG closed its fifth pan-Asian direct lending fund at $2.6 billion, APAC’s largest private credit fund to date.