Retail in Asia

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Zensho acquires Lotteria Japan

Lotte Holdings Co. announced on February 16 plans to offload its hamburger chain subsidiary Lotteria Co. to restaurant giant Zensho Holdings Co. on April 1.

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The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

The Korean company said it plans to sell its shares in Lotteria Co. and the brand will be maintained for a certain period even after the share transfer, according to local media reports.

The share sale is part of Lotte Holdings’ review of its overall portfolio, which also includes confectionery maker Lotte Co.

Lotte Holdings President Genichi Tamatsuka said that the sale is “the best choice for Lotteria, Zensho Holdings and Lotte Holdings to achieve new growth,” according to a statement.

Zensho Holdings said that the acquisition of Lotteria will help it to generate synergies in such fields as food procurement and logistics by taking advantage of its wide range of restaurant operations.

Founded in 1982, Zensho Holdings operates several restaurant chains, as well as Sukiya gyudon beef-on-rice restaurants and Hama-Sushi conveyor-belt sushi restaurants. The company formerly ran Wendy’s hamburger shops in Japan.

Lotteria opened its first outlet in 1972. The chain had 358 outlets in Japan as of Jan. 1 this year.

In 2020, the sales revenue of hamburger restaurants in Japan amounted to approximately JPY 775.4 billion (USD 5.8 billion), with the leading hamburger restaurant chains in Japan being McDonald’s, KFC, and Moss Burger, according to Statista.