이 기사는 2020년 06월 22일 08:00 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

South Korea’s MP Group, which operates pizza chain Mr. Pizza, will rely on its restructuring efforts and strength in delivery to attract potential buyers.

MP Group seeks to sell some 39.5 million common shares, or 48.9 percent of the company, owned by its main shareholders along with 4 million new shares. Deal manager Samil PwC asked potential bidders to submit tentative offers by June 24, according to sources on June 18.

The company believes Mr. Pizza’s brand awareness and strong network of restaurants will be able to attract sufficient interest from investors. It is said to be marketing the sale with a focus on its performance improvement initiative.

A key part of the initiative is to increase the number of Mr. Pizza restaurants directly operated by the company to control the quality of services and respond more quickly to customers, alongside closing restaurants making losses. MP Group plans to add two directly operated restaurants each month over the coming six months and open additional 20 such restaurants in 2021.

The company has recorded operating losses for the past three consecutive years on a consolidated basis. But its efforts to improve operating performance have seemingly started to bear fruit, raising hopes that the company could turn around in the near future. Mr. Pizza’s so-called Store Revitalization Project (SRP), through which pizza buffet and other diversified menus are offered, led to a 30 percent average growth in revenue at participating stores last year.

MP Group also argues that with a large portion of Mr. Pizza revenue coming from delivery orders, the pizza chain’s financial performance has the upside potential as the Covid-19 outbreak continues to change how food is served. For the first five months of this year delivery orders accounted for about 52 percent of Mr. Pizza’s total revenue, up from the range of between 30 percent and 40 percent in the past five years.

Apart from Mr. Pizza, MP Group also operates coffee and muffin chain Manoffin. It recently closed more than 20 stores in high-rent subway stations, which will allow the company to reduce operating expenses by 2.5 billion won ($2 million).

(Reporting by Ar-rum Rho)