photo = Yonhap News
Mom’s Touch, a hamburger franchise, declared voluntarily delisting. When the company decided to take a tender offer of the shares of minority shareholders, the stock price soared.
Mom’s Touch finished trading at 6,130 won on the 20th, up 17.88%. On the same day, Mom Touch announced that FNB Holdings Korea, the largest shareholder, would buy 15.80% (16.08 million shares) of the remaining shares excluding treasury stock from the 20th to the 15th of the following month. Mom Touch explained that the purpose of the tender offer was to voluntarily delist. The tender offer price is 6200 won.
According to the listing regulations, delisting is possible if the major shareholder secures 95% or more of the listed stock. In the case of Mom’s Touch, the largest shareholder, F&B Holdings Korea, holds a 67.49% stake, while Mom’s Touch holds a 16.71% treasury stock. “Even if the delisting proceeds voluntarily, Mom’s Touch will purchase the stocks held by minority shareholders at the same price as this tender offer for six months after delisting,” Mom’s Touch said.
Mom’s Touch was listed on the KOSDAQ market in 2016 through a merger with Spec. At that time, the listing name was Haemaro Food Service. Former Chairman Hyunsik Jeong, who founded Mom’s Touch, sold the company to private equity fund KL & Partners in December 2019. The company changed its name to Mom’s Touch & Company in March 2021. If it succeeds in voluntary delisting, it will return to an unlisted company after six years.
It is known that KL&Partners decided that it was not helpful for Mom’s Touch to remain listed as a listed company. This is because conflicts with franchisees have intensified based on the disclosure of specific results.
At the beginning of last year, franchisees formed a franchise association in protest against the headquarters’ unilateral increase in raw material prices. The company notified the store manager of Sangdo Station, who led this, to cancel the franchise contract and stopped supplying raw and subsidiary materials, which escalated into a legal battle. Mom’s Touch is being investigated by the Fair Trade Commission on charges of violating the Fair Trade Fair Act.
Until the third quarter of last year, Mom’s Touch’s cumulative sales amounted to 221.686 billion won, up 4.4% from the same period last year. During the same period, operating profit increased 53.9% to 29,244.98 million won. As of the end of last year, there were 1352 Mom’s Touch stores, ranking first among the six major hamburger brands. There is also an analysis that the decision was made to delist to prevent noise in the process of selling Mom’s Touch in the future.
As for the reason for the delisting, Mom’s Touch said, “The public buyer (Fnb Holdings Korea) will continue to maintain and develop competitiveness by securing flexibility in management activities and speed of decision-making of the target company (Mum’s Touch) through the delisting of the company. Go to sleep,” he explained. He continued, “If there is a (negative) report about a listed company, it may lead to a decline in franchise sales.
Reporter Ko Jae-yeon
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