Bloomberg "The Born Korea IPO Will Attract Investors"
Good Timing for IPO Amid Success of 'Black and White Chef'
Bloomberg in the United States compared Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, to the famous British chef Gordon Ramsay and predicted that The Born Korea's listing would inject vitality into the domestic investment market.
On the 25th, Bloomberg stated, "Chef Baek Jong-won, who became famous through Netflix's popular program (The Chef Show), is trading his dining business at a value of about $180 million (approximately 250 billion KRW), contributing to revitalizing South Korea's initial public offering (IPO) market, which is facing difficulties."
Bloomberg introduced CEO Baek as the 'Gordon Ramsay of Korea.' Gordon Ramsay is a representative British chef who maintains a Michelin 3-star restaurant bearing his name and is also an active star chef in broadcasting. It added, "CEO Baek recently appeared on Netflix's cooking competition program, which ranked first on the non-English TV charts," and evaluated, "The success of Netflix's unscripted cooking program has revitalized the Korean food service industry, helping it recover from the slump experienced after the COVID-19 pandemic."
Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, is giving a greeting at the production presentation of the Netflix variety show "Cooking Class War: Black and White Chefs," held on the 11th of last month at JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Bloomberg analyzed that The Born Korea's IPO took place at a perfect time. The media said, "The IPO occurred at a time when Korean cuisine is gaining popularity overseas due to the Korean Wave (Hallyu)," and "The listing of the dining franchise company founded by CEO Baek 30 years ago is expected to attract investors who want to invest in the Korean food industry."
Meanwhile, The Born Korea, which is scheduled to be listed on the Korea Exchange next month, has set its public offering price at 34,000 KRW. This is higher than the expected price range of 23,000 to 28,000 KRW. The Born Korea will offer 3 million new shares through this listing. Of these, 600,000 shares are allocated to the employee stock ownership association, and 2.4 million shares will be offered to the general public. Based on the public offering price, The Born Korea's total public offering amount is 102 billion KRW, and its market capitalization after listing is 491.8 billion KRW. The largest shareholder, CEO Baek, currently holds 7,792,850 shares, accounting for 76.69% of The Born Korea's shares. Calculated at the public offering price, CEO Baek's stake is worth approximately 299 billion KRW.
The Born Korea was established in 1994 and owns 25 dining franchises including Baekdabang, Hong Kong Banjeom, Hanshin Pocha, Saemaeul Sikdang, and Yeokjeon Udon, with over 2,900 domestic stores. In addition to the dining business, it has ventured into HMR (Home Meal Replacement), processed foods, and operates The Born Hotel business in Jeju Island. The Born Korea's sales last year were 410.6 billion KRW, with an operating profit of 25.5 billion KRW.
The Born Korea plans to conduct subscription for general investors over two days on the 28th and 29th, and is scheduled to be listed on the Korea Exchange on the 6th of next month. The lead underwriters for the listing are Korea Investment & Securities and NH Investment & Securities.
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