Moms Touch News Today

A growing number of Korea’s food and beverage franchises have chosen Japan as the testbed for their overseas expansion, instead of China or North America, which had once been considered more favorable to foreign brands, according to industry officials, Monday.

Tensions are escalating in the Korean food and beverage franchise industry as the nation’s antitrust watchdog has repeatedly warned about its plan to scrutinize restaurant and coffee shop chains owned by private equity firms (PEFs) during the first half of this year, according to industry officials, Tuesday.

Large food and beverage franchises in Korea are resuming efforts to go public this year. But market observers are skeptical about their potential for success, in light of the economic downturn and the ongoing series of unsuccessful initial public offerings (IPOs) within this sector.

The countrys antitrust agency has fined Moms Touch 300 million won ($224,000) for allegedly abusing a franchisee who led the formation of a council of franchisees, according to the Fair Trade Commission, Wednesday.

The overseas expansion of Korean chicken burger franchise Moms Touch is growing. Starting with Thailand, the chicken burger specialist has also opened its doors in Mongolia and Japan, according to company officials, Monday.

Various global private equity firms have joined the bidding war to acquire Moms Touch, a Korea-headquartered chicken burger chain, due in part to their favorable positions created by the strong U.S. dollar. New potential buyers could emerge any time, as the sales process is currently being conducted on a rolling basis, meaning applications for acquisitions will be reviewed as they come in, rather than waiting for a certain date to judge them all at once.

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