Bain continues to trim holding in Japan's Skylark

The private equity firm sold 25.5 million shares for JPY1,630 apiece, which represented a 5.18% discount to the June 15 closing price, according to a filing. Skylark’s stock closed down 2.85% on June 16 at JPY1,670. It is still up more than 8% year-to-date. Bain’s remaining stake is worth around JPY49 billion.

It acquired Skylark from Nomura Holdings for JPY160 billion in 2011, with Japan Industrial Partners participating as a minority investor. Bain received JPY68.8 billion from the company's IPO in October 2014. A second partial exit came in May 2015 as Bain cut its holding from 62.4% to 39.3%, generating JPY71.8 billion. In March, its stake dropped to around 28% following a JPY34.9 billion sale.

Skylark launched in 1970 as a family-style restaurant, akin to American eateries such as Denny's. The company primary 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 December 2016, the company had 3,036 restaurants in Japan and 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.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• North Asia
• Open market
• Consumer
• Japan
• Bain Capital Asia
• Exit