South Korean burger chain Mom’s Touch is once again up for sale, industry officials said Sunday, roughly four years after its private equity owner shelved an earlier attempt to sell the company.
KL & Partners, which controls the franchise through a special-purpose vehicle, plans to appoint a financial adviser as early as April and aims to complete the sale by the end of the year, according to the sources. The firm is seeking a valuation above 1 trillion won (about $665 million).
KL & Partners acquired a 56.8 percent stake in Mom’s Touch for about 200 billion won in 2019 and later boosted its holding to 95 percent, taking the company private. In 2022, the firm explored a sale at a valuation of roughly 1 trillion-won, but canceled the plan amid a slump in the food service industry.
Mom’s Touch, the country’s largest fast-food chain with about 1,480 locations, has recently seen improving financial performance that could support a higher valuation in a renewed sale process.
The company generated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about 102 billion won in 2025, up more than 20 percent from a year earlier. Based on the typical EBITDA multiple for food franchise businesses of about 10 to 13, the company could be worth up to 1.3 trillion won, industry officials estimate.
Since acquiring the brand, KL & Partners has sought to expand Mom’s Touch’s footprint and profitability through tighter store-level operations, celebrity collaborations and expansion into Asian markets, including Thailand, Japan and Mongolia.
Mom’s Touch posted 417.9 billion won in revenue in 2024, about 45 percent higher than in 2019, while operating profit surged 286 percent to 73.4 billion won over the same period.
minmin@heraldcorp.com
