
Bain to complete exit from Japan's Skylark
Bain Capital Private Equity will divest its remaining 15% stake in Japanese restaurant operator Skylark, completing a gradual sale of the business it acquired in 2011 and took public three years later.
The private equity firm will sell approximately 29.6 million shares by November 28, Skylark said in a filing. Based on November 21 closing price of JPY1,677, the transaction could have been worth JPY49.6 billion ($442 million), although the Reuters reported the block trade was priced at JPY1,602-1,622. As of late morning trading on November 22, Skylark’s stock was down 3.6% at JPY1,618.
This represents Bain’s third sale of Skylark shares this year. The private equity firm reduced its holding to around 28% through a JPY34.9 billion trade in March and then reached 15% in June, generating proceeds of JPY41.6 billion. This followed another partial exit worth JPY71.8 billion in May 2015, which saw Bain’s holding fall from 62.4% to 39.3%. The GP had already received JPY68.8 billion from the company’s IPO in October 2014.
Bain acquired Skylark from Nomura Holdings for JPY160 billion in 2011, with Japan Industrial Partners participating as a minority investor. Nomura and CVC Capital Partners had purchased the business five years earlier through a JPY380 billion (then $3.19 billion) management buyout during a period of peak valuations in the Japanese market.
Skylark launched in 1970 as a family-style restaurant, akin to American eateries such as Denny's. The company primarily operates under the Gusto brand, which offers Western-style cuisine and accounts for about half of overall revenue. It has more than 20 restaurant brands in total, covering Japanese, Chinese and Western cuisine.
As of May 2017, the company had 3,031 restaurants in Japan and another 48 in Taiwan, either owned directly or operated on a franchise basis. It wants to open 450 new stores between 2017 and 2019. Revenue came to JPY354.5 billion for the 12 months ended December 2016, up 1% year-on-year. EBITDA rose 11.1% to JPY45.9 billion, while net profit gained 20.5% to reach JPY18.2 billion.
Bain’s other recent activity in Japan includes leading a consortium that has agreed to acquire Toshiba Memory Corporation for JPY2 trillion and a proposed take-private of advertising agency Asatsu-DK.
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