This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on November 22, 2021.
FoodBud reported in November 2021 that The Carlyle Group had agreed to acquire South Korean coffee chain operator A Twosome Place from private equity firm Anchor Equity Partners.
The transaction price was not officially disclosed. Korean media reports cited by FoodBud valued the deal at about KRW 800 billion, equivalent to roughly RMB 4.3 billion or USD 676 million.
Carlyle said it had reached a definitive agreement with Anchor to acquire A Twosome Place. The firm said it would use its consumer and retail expertise, global network, and resources to strengthen the brand, optimize the store network, and improve product offerings and marketing capability.
A Twosome Place was founded in 2002, starting with its first store in Sinchon, Seoul. The brand positioned itself as a dessert cafe, offering cakes and sandwiches developed by professional pastry chefs alongside coffee.
In 2008, A Twosome Place began franchising in South Korea. FoodBud described the chain as helping lead a newer cafe culture in Seoul, the capital region, and other major cities.
At the time of the article, A Twosome Place had more than 1,400 stores across South Korea and overseas markets. The brand had used celebrity endorsers including Hyun Bin, So Ji-sub, Lee Min-ho, and Nam Joo-hyuk to build awareness and brand image.
A Twosome Place opened its first China store in Beijing's Wangjing SOHO in August 2019. FoodBud wrote that the store marked a new starting point for the brand's China market expansion.
The company had previously planned to open five new stores using a new brand identity in the second half of 2020. At the time of the article, A Twosome Place had five stores in mainland China: four in Beijing and one in Tianjin.
Anchor Equity Partners had initially planned to take A Twosome Place public independently, but FoodBud said that plan changed around May 2021 amid acquisition interest from Carlyle and other investment firms.
A Twosome Place had previously been a premium brand under CJ Foodville, one of South Korea's largest foodservice companies. CJ Foodville also operated more than 10 other brands, including Tous Les Jours, Bibigo, and VIPS.
CJ Foodville sold A Twosome Place to Anchor Equity Partners in 2019. According to company filings cited by FoodBud, Anchor bought a 45% stake in Twosome from CJ Foodville in 2019 for KRW 202.5 billion, or USD 170 million. By the end of 2020, Anchor held 73.89% of the coffee brand.
FoodBud also noted that CJ Foodville sold the mainland China business of Tous Les Jours to Hosen Capital in 2019.
FoodBud's related section summarized Hosen Capital's acquisition and turnaround of Tous Les Jours' mainland China business, drawing in part on an AVCJ article by Tim Burroughs.
On July 19, 2019, domestic investment firm Hosen Capital took control of the mainland China business of coffee-and-bakery chain Tous Les Jours.
Hosen Capital was described as a China-based private equity manager focused on food and agriculture-related consumption upgrades and industrial upgrades. Founded in 2011, it had invested across restaurant retail, food supply chains, premium ingredients, and digital agriculture. Its backers included New Hope Group, West Hope Group, Oceanwide, JD.com, Wumart, Haidilao, international sovereign funds, family funds, large funds of funds, major Japanese trading houses, a large U.S. agribusiness group, and the International Finance Corporation under the World Bank.
Hosen's founder was Wang Hang, described by FoodBud as the number-two figure at New Hope. AVCJ's article described Hosen's first decade as an evolution from RMB funds to USD funds and from growth investing to buyouts, while staying focused on China's food market.
After the Tous Les Jours China acquisition, Hosen brought in Li Haitao, a 16-year China Resources veteran who had spent nearly a decade running Pacific Coffee. Hosen had met Li years earlier during due diligence on a potential investment target.
CJ Group entered China in August 2005, opening the first Tous Les Jours coffee-and-bakery chain store in Beijing. By 2018, Tous Les Jours had reached 200 stores nationwide. By the time Hosen acquired the mainland China business in July 2019, the store count had contracted by half.
After taking control, Hosen launched a restructuring plan: focusing on stronger products, adding delivery, building online platforms, developing a membership system, and making Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen core markets.
The article said that by the end of that year, Tous Les Jours would return to 200 chain stores, including flagship, standard, and mini formats, with most new stores being franchised. Its franchise model shifted from regional franchising to individual franchising.
Li Haitao, CEO of Tous Les Jours China, said Hosen mainly controlled strategy and investment while the management team handled daily operations. Hosen founding partner Zhang Tianli said the firm had quickly judged before the acquisition that the business could be turned around.
AVCJ's broader profile described Hosen as focused on food-consumption buyouts, integration, and growth investments, from consumer brands to supply chains and enabling technologies. Its reach extended beyond China to overseas targets supplying the China market.
Hosen began with minority growth investments, including Yihai, New Hope Dairy, Haidilao, and Meituan-Dianping. It had operated independently since 2010. Its first RMB fund raised RMB 1.3 billion, with New Hope Group as a main LP.
In 2012, Hosen raised its first USD fund at USD 128 million, about RMB 1 billion at the exchange rate then, bringing in Mitsui and Temasek as strategic investors alongside New Hope. In 2017, its second USD fund grew to USD 450 million. In April 2021, it completed an USD 800 million third USD fund, nearly doubling the prior fund size.
More than 80% of the investors in Hosen's third USD fund were sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, university endowments, asset managers, family offices, and funds of funds; strategic investors accounted for nearly 20%.
AVCJ also highlighted Hosen's 2013 acquisition of Kilcoy Pastoral Company, described as Australia's fourth-largest beef processor. Kilcoy, founded in 1953, had been a family business for 54 years and then spent six years under two private equity owners.
Hosen's stated idea was to invest in a valuable China business while building an Australia-to-China supply chain. After buying Kilcoy, Hosen also bought Weihai Weidao Food, described as an important supplier to large Western-style restaurant chains in China, helping complete the supply-chain loop.
Kilcoy was Hosen's first control transaction and a cross-border acquisition in a very different market. The operating lesson described in the article was to spend time understanding the existing management team, align them around Asian growth strategy, and empower them to execute.
Dean Goode, Kilcoy Global Foods' CEO, had worked at Kilcoy since 2007. He said the company and Hosen developed a first three-year plan after the acquisition and were later executing a third three-year plan, with new strategies supporting the core business while core values and direction remained largely unchanged.
After plant upgrades, Kilcoy Global Foods' capacity increased by 250%. The group deepened its premium wagyu supply across retail, wholesale, and foodservice channels. Revenue in Australia alone grew from AUD 450 million, about RMB 2.2 billion, to AUD 1.5 billion, about RMB 7.34 billion.
Overall, Kilcoy Global Foods generated nearly USD 1.6 billion, about RMB 10.33 billion, in annual revenue and expanded globally. Growth came through add-on acquisitions including Ruprecht in the U.S., which created an integrated U.S. supply chain, and Weihai Weidao in China, which expanded capacity and supply capability. The group also created an import business in Shanghai for foodservice and retail distribution and acquired a premium group-meal company serving schools and enterprises.
The group's business focus shifted from the U.S. toward Asia, with China, Japan, and South Korea taking 70% of production. Despite trade-friction pressure and disruption to a planned Hong Kong listing, the article said the overall business had returned to its pre-pandemic normal.
Note: Deal values, store-opening plans, fund sizes, IPO plans, and forward-looking store targets are historical figures from the November 22, 2021 source article.