December 22, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] CJ Group’s coffee franchise A Twosome Place is seeking to expand its presence in China, having established a local unit five months ago, according to industry sources on Nov. 22.

It currently has 30 outlets in China which are directly managed by the company’s headquarters.

According to sources, the firm established the unit to manage its business in China independently and scale up growth. Prior to that it was doing its business in China through four affiliates -- CJ Beijing Bakery, CJ Foodville Shanghai, CJ Foodville Guangzhou and CJ Foodville Chongqing.

It is also reportedly discussing with financial investors, including Hong Kong-based global private equity firm Anchor Equity Partners, to open more stores in China and other overseas markets.

In February, the coffee chain which was spun off from CJ Foodville attracted investment worth 50 billion won (US$ 46.65 million) from three investors, including Anchor Equity Partners. It has already spent 12 billion won to acquire bakery firm Mimi and industry sources expect that the rest of the funding will be spent on overseas expansion.

The company has said that it seeks to become the top coffee chain operator in both the domestic and global markets. It is currently the second biggest coffee chain operator here with around 910 stores, following Starbucks Coffee Korea.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)