News Release
Carlyle Acquires South Korea’s Premium Café Chain Operator, A Twosome Place
Seoul, Hong Kong – November 19, 2021 – An affiliated entity of Carlyle Asia Partners V, an investment fund managed and advised by affiliated entities of The Carlyle Group Inc., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire A Twosome Place (the “Company”), one of the leading premium café chain operators in South Korea, from Anchor Equity Partners.
Established in 2002 and currently operating over 1,400 stores, A Twosome Place is uniquely positioned as a “Premium Dessert Café”, offering a variety of high-quality cake and dessert choices for consumers which differentiate it from peers.
Carlyle will leverage its Consumer and Retail industry expertise, global network and resources to further strengthen the A Twosome Place brand, optimize its store footprint, and enhance its product offerings and marketing capabilities.
John Kim, Managing Director at Carlyle, said: “A Twosome Place has built a strong brand and positioning as a leader in South Korea’s premium café sector. We look forward to working with the CEO Young-Sang Yi and his experienced management team to further build upon the strong franchise network and capture the significant white space in the Korean market.”
Young-Sang Yi, CEO of A Twosome Place, commented: “Our entire management team is tremendously excited to be partnering with Carlyle to drive A Twosome Place to its next stage of development. There is significant opportunity for further growth in the Korean market, and we look forward to benefitting from Carlyle’s extensive global experience in the Consumer F&B space.”
Carlyle has been investing in South Korea for more than 20 years, partnering with local companies to drive business growth and value creation. In 2021, Carlyle invested US$200 million in Kakao Mobility. In 2020, Carlyle invested in KB Financial Group and formed a strategic alliance with the company to collaborate on new investment opportunities both in Korea and overseas, and established a strategic partnership with Korean Re to explore co-insurance opportunities. The firm also sold its investment in ADT Caps, the second largest security services provider in South Korea, to SK Telecom and Macquarie in 2018.
Carlyle has a well-established history of investing in the Consumer and Retail sector, having deployed more than US$24 billion of equity in over 135 consumer and retail transactions globally as of September 30, 2021.
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About Carlyle
Carlyle (NASDAQ:CG) is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Global Investment Solutions. With $293 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2021, Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, portfolio companies and the communities in which we live and invest. Carlyle employs more than 1,800 people in 26 offices across five continents. Further information is available at www.carlyle.com. Follow Carlyle on Twitter @OneCarlyle.
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