이 기사는 2020년 02월 07일 08시00분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s KL&Partners has created a new team at Haimarrow Food Service, which is set to be included in the private equity firm’s portfolio soon, as part of its post-merger integration plan.

KL&Partners has recently set up a task force as part of a restructuring of Haimarrow Food Service, the operator of the country’s famous fast-food chain Mom’s Touch, sources close to the matter said on Tuesday. This is the first move made by the private equity firm after it nominated one member to Haimarrow’s board of directors last week.

The new team will take a business-process-reengineering (BPR) approach, a strategy involving the complete redesign of core business processes to improve efficiency. This indicates that KL&Partners has begun the post-merger integration process, though the transaction has not yet completed.

The private equity firm reportedly plans to recruit food-and-beverage chain specialists with global experience, who will likely take senior roles at the newly created team.

Such a move has resulted in divided opinions of stakeholders. Some support KL&Partners’ decision as the earlier the company starts the post-merger integration process, the more it can save time and costs. On the other hand, others express concerns that this could make the company’s employees feel more insecure.

Some of Haimarrow’s employees established a labor union last December, when it was announced that KL&Partners signed a deal to buy a controlling stake in the company. In response to the request from the labor union, the private equity firm and the labor union will meet together on February 13.

A potential conflict with the company’s employees is likely to be the last obstacle to KL&Partners’ acquisition of Haimarrow, as the private equity firm appears to have almost finished raising capital to pay for the burger franchise operator. It is expected to make the payment for the acquisition later this month.

(By reporter Rho Ar-rum)