Standard Chartered PE backs garlic-themed restaurant in Korea

The size of SCPE's stake in the company was not disclosed.

Mad for Garlic was founded in 2011 by Sun At Food, a leading multi-brand dining service provider in Korea. It operates as an Italian wine bistro that uses garlic as the main ingredient in its cuisine. The restaurant chain has more than 40 food items and over 100 varieties of wine and other drinks on its menu.

There are 29 Mad For Garlic outlets in Korea and four in Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia. The company wants to enlarge its domestic network and also establish a presence in the likes of China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Taiwan. It is one of five proprietary brands and two franchised brands owned by Sun At Food.

"Mad for Garlic is a fast growing Italian chain restaurant that caters to the increasingly discerning food palettes of people in Asia. With Standard Chartered's long heritage in Asia, we identify with the company's philosophy and ambitions. We look forward to bringing our management expertise to help the business as it continues the growth trajectory in Asia and internationally," Taeyub Kim, managing director and head of Korea for SCPE, said in a statement.

The private equity arm of Standard Chartered Bank, SCPE invests in companies whose principal operations and management are located in Asia, Africa or the Middle East. It currently has investments of more than $800 million in Korea.

In June, SCPE committed $60 million to AJ Networks, the largest shareholder in listed South Korean car rental business AJ Rent A Car.

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• Topics
• Consumer
• Expansion
• North Asia
• Southeast Asia
• South Korea
• Southeast Asia
• Standard Chartered Private Equity
• Consumer
• Growth capital