A Twosome Place has remained profitable despite pandemic pressures | Photo credit: Tse Seng Goh via Flickr

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South Korean coffee chain, A Twosome Place, is reportedly exploring an IPO that could value the company at 500bn won ($445m). According to South Korean news outlet, Pulse, the coffee chain’s Hong Kong-based owner Anchor Equity Partners has sent proposals to major securities firms to explore an IPO, which will be decided upon based on potential investor interest.
 
World Coffee Portal research shows that even amid severe trading disruption during the pandemic, South Korea’s branded coffee chains still opened hundreds of stores in 2020, with the total branded café market expanding 8.3% to 24,905 outlets in 2020.
 
A Twosome Place, which operates around 1,300 stores in South Korea, has remained profitable amid severe Covid-19 trading  disruption. The company reported an operating profit of 38.8bn won ($34.6m) on sales of 365.4bn won in 2020, up 8.7% and 10.3% against the previous year, respectively.
 
Coffee is big business in South Korea, which is home to one of the most densely populated coffee shop markets in the world. Overall coffee consumption in the East Asian nation has boomed during the pandemic, with data from government agency the Korea Customs Service showing South Korea imported 176,648 tons of coffee worth $737.8m in 2020 – an annual rise of 5.4% and 11.5% respectively – both the highest recorded since data tracking began in 2000.