MBK to buy Asia retail assets from chocolate maker Godiva

The North Asia buyout firm will assume control of over 300 retail outlets, airport concessions in Japan and Korea, and related consumer packaged goods and e-commerce assets, as well as a production facility in Brussels. Godiva will retain control of the brand – MBK is being granted a perpetual license – as well as its operations in around 100 other markets globally. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Turkish food conglomerate Yildiz Holding, which acquired Godiva from Campbell Soup for $850 million in 2007, said the divestment was part of a broader plan to grow revenues fivefold over the next six years. This will be achieved by opening more than 2,000 Godiva cafes – there were 40 as of December – and aggressive expansion in markets such as Asia and North America. The company had around 400 retail outlets globally in 2008 and it claims to have nearly doubled store numbers and revenue since then.

Godiva was founded in 1926 and expanded into Asia in 1972. Japan is its largest market in the region and it accounts for a clear majority of the stores being sold to MBK. The Nikkei reported that the four markets generate about $360 million in annual sales, with 90% of that coming from Japan. Sales in the country are said to have tripled in the last seven years, turning Godiva into the leading gift chocolate player with a 26% market share.

Last year, Godiva took out a full-page advertisement in The Nikkei suggesting that the Japanese Valentine's Day tradition of “giri choco” – whereby women are obliged to give chocolate to male acquaintances such as colleagues and friends – should end. Chocolate bought for this purpose tends to be from cheap brands, which means Godiva would likely be impacted less than low-price competitors by the practice's end.

Various private equity firms were linked to the Godiva auction process. Nurtac Afridi, head of strategy and M&A at Yildiz, said in a statement that it had “received remarkable interest from a dozen blue-chip investors, many of whom were actively engaged in the negotiation until the last rounds.”

MBK targets control deals in South Korea, Japan, and Greater China. The firm is currently investing its fourth fund, which closed at $4.1 billion in late 2016. The Godiva deal is expected to close by mid-2019.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Australasia
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• MBK Partners
• Japan
• South Korea
• Australia