Houlihan Lokey Advises Lotte Holdings

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Lotte Holdings has sold LOTTERIA to Zensho First Holdings (Zensho). Houlihan Lokey acted as the sole financial advisor to Lotte Holdings. The transaction closed on April 1, 2023.

Founded in 1948 and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Lotte Holdings is a Japanese multinational holding company that owns Lotte Group companies across Japan and Korea. It is well known as the third-largest confectionery manufacturer in Japan, following Meiji Seika and Ezaki Glico, and also operates and manages hotels, restaurants, and sports teams under the Lotte brand.

LOTTERIA (Japan), is the core company of Lotte Group's restaurant business. The long-established brand has been popular for more than 50 years, since the dawn of the fast-food hamburger chain restaurant market in Japan.

Founded in 1982, Zensho Holdings operates a global restaurant business and is one of the largest foodservice companies in Japan. Zensho First Holdings is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zensho Holdings.

This transaction was a result of Lotte Holdings’ decision to divest LOTTERIA as a strategic move to reorganize its business portfolio and Zensho’s intentions to enter the fast-food hamburger business as well as realize synergies with the group's food procurement, logistics, and store operation functions.

Houlihan Lokey served as the sole financial advisor to Lotte Holdings on its sale of LOTTERIA to Zensho by providing value from identifying parties and maintaining a competitive environment of strong potential buyers to producing a desirable value-added proposition and business plan under challenging market conditions, and winning favorable contract terms.