Korea’s Twosome Place, Ediya coffee chains planning an IPO

Two South Korean coffee franchises are pushing ahead with IPOs to raise funds for expansion both domestically and globally.

A Twosome Place and Ediya Coffee are seeking to challenge Starbucks Coffee, which dominates the Korean market. It says Ediya aims to be listed by the end of next year, which would be a first for a coffee shop franchise.

Ediya would probably use the new capital to build a roasting factory and to expand overseas. The company ranks third in Korea in terms of sales and first in store numbers. With 2200 stores, it has posted KW150 billion (US$139.5 million) in sales, following Starbucks (more than KW1 trillion) and Twosome (KW200 billion).

Meanwhile, Twosome plans to separate from CJ Foodville to become a subsidiary in February. It is also expected to list on the Seoul bourse to raise more funds.

Korea already has more than 90,000 coffee shops, but is still attracting global chains. US Blue Bottle Coffee has established a local subsidiary and expects to open its first Seoul store in March.