Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Outback Steakhouse on track to find new owner
A steak meal of Outback Steakhouse Korea / Korea Times file
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
Owners of Outback Steakhouse Korea, the Korean unit of the U.S. restaurant chain, which again is up for sale, are reviewing final bids that have to be submitted by the end of the month.
Credit Suisse, the lead manager in the sale, is set to receive binding offers from potential buyers, according to the domestic investment banking industry.
The bank was chosen as lead manager early last year by local private equity firm (PEF) Skylake Equity Partners, which bought of the the Australia-themed restaurant in 2016 for 57 billion won ($51 million).
While several local PEFs and strategic investors showed interest in acquiring the eatery during last year's attempted sale, none ended up signing a deal due to a failure to reach an agreement over the price.
Skylake aims to sell it once again after another round of preliminary bidding was held successfully in April, with several firms participating. Most potential buyers for this year's bidding were also local PEFs or strategic investors that already operate their own restaurant businesses. An in-depth presentation and interviews of the restaurant chain's management followed the preliminary round.
As the price of Outback Steakhouse is expected to be around 200 billion won, Skylake could see a near quadruple return on its original investment.
An Outback Steakhouse restaurant / Korea Times file
Despite impairing effects last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Outback Steakhouse Korea remained solid in terms of growth. Last year's annual revenue stood at 298 billion won, up 46 percent from 203 billion won in annual revenue in 2017, immediately after Skylake acquired the restaurant chain. The chain's operating profit has also seen upward movement, from 15.4 billion won in 2017 to 34 billion won in 2020.
The company's delivery platform, which contributed to the chain's healthy growth last year, is cited as a particular advantage. The company was well-prepared for extending delivery services since late 2019, and the service is attributed to significantly raising corporate value. Out of Outback Steakhouse's 76 restaurants nationwide, nearly half offer a delivery service. Recently, more than 50 percent of monthly revenue has been from deliveries.
Market watchers believe a successful exit by Skylake could usher in more food-related business investments in Korea; but they also expressed doubts over how much valuations could go up further.