Houlihan Lokey Advises GC Company

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that GC Company Corp. has agreed to acquire Loco Partners Inc. from KDDI Corp. Under the referral agreement, Houlihan Lokey functioned exclusively as an intermediary for GC Company.

GC Company operates Yeogi Eottae, a leading online travel and leisure booking platform in South Korea. The platform is highly popular among young adults in their 20s and 30s, boasting more than 50 million cumulative app downloads and holding the top position in major brand metrics, including brand favorability and top-of-mind awareness. The company has achieved simultaneous growth and profitability for seven consecutive years and estimates a gross merchandise value of ¥270 billion and an operating profit of approximately ¥7.7 billion in FY2025. Furthermore, GC Company began offering Japanese accommodations in 2022.

Loco Partners is a wholly owned subsidiary of KDDI that operates a booking service for hotels and traditional Japanese inns (ryokans). The company provides carefully selected accommodations in Japan to domestic customers through its booking platform Relux, and to inbound travelers via partnerships with international OTAs and its Relux HOTEL GDS Service. Furthermore, the Relux platform leverages services within the au economic zone to enhance its offerings.

GC Company is set to enhance its differentiation by integrating Korean travel products into Relux while supplying Relux’s premium Japanese accommodations to the Yeogi Eottae platform. The company intends to utilize this transaction as a foundation for its expansion into international markets. Loco Partners aims to expand its business and create new value propositions by fully leveraging GC Company’s robust resources in the accommodation booking sector. These resources include advanced AI capabilities, sophisticated target marketing, and diverse sourcing power.

Houlihan Lokey served as a referral partner and buyside advisor to GC Company and assisted in initiating, structuring, and negotiating the transaction on its behalf. This transaction further enhances Houlihan Lokey’s extensive business services track record and showcases our firm’s ability to combine deep sector expertise with local execution capabilities.

RELATED: Business Services