Korea's IMM Private Equity invests $87m in Hollys F&B

Hollys Coffee was launched in 1998 and now operates 400 outlets nationwide as well as nine overseas, including three in China. It currently enters new markets through franchise arrangements, but with the new investment, it will work on a wholly-owned basis. There are also plans to expand the company's domestic network.

Company management will remain unchanged.

Hollys F&B recorded a net profit of $4.6 million last year on sales of $57.5 million, according to media reports. It owes its success in part to the arrival of Starbucks in South Korea in 1999.

The US giant operates via a joint venture with domestic conglomerate Shinsegae and had 467 outlets nationwide as of September 2012. Net profit for the year was said to be $16.5 million with sales totaling $342 million.

As of 2011, Korea was said to be the world's 11th largest coffee market, with more than 12,300 coffee shops, up from just over 8,000 in 2010. Sales jumped 59% to KRW1.55 trillion over the same period.

IMM Private Equity was set up in 2001 and currently has KRW497 billion under management across three funds: IMM Rose Gold Private Equity Fund II, which closed at KRW312.5 billion in 2008; and Jupiter Private Equity Fund and Primoris Private Equity Fund, 2007 vintage vehicles, that raised KRW104 billion and KRW40.5 billion, respectively.

IMM Rose Gold Private Equity Fund II launched in early 2012 and is said to have exceeded its initial target of KRW700 billion, AVCJ Research's records show.

The firm is also involved in the National Pension Service's Corporate Partnership Program, which is intended to support Korean companies as they expand overseas.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• North Asia
• Consumer
• South Korea
• Consumer
• buyout
• IMM Investment