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Pizza franchise Banolim Pizza has acquired Ogu Ssalg Pizza. The total number of stores for Banolim Pizza and Ogu Ssalg Pizza is approximately 730. With this acquisition, Banolim Pizza has become the industry leader in the number of stores based on a single corporation.

According to the pizza industry on the 9th, Orchestra Private Equity (PE), a private equity firm operating Banolim Pizza, purchased Ogu Ssalg Pizza on the 27th of last month. The acquisition was carried out by Orchestra PE acquiring all shares of Ogu Ssalg Pizza’s franchise headquarters, Ogu Bonga, making it a subsidiary.

With this acquisition, Banolim Pizza secured an additional 370 Ogu Ssalg Pizza franchise stores on top of its existing approximately 360 franchise stores.

Ogu Ssalg Pizza aims for a light and chewy texture made from Korean rice, barley, millet, wheat, and black sesame. Compared to regular wheat flour dough, its rice dough is easier to digest and has been praised as a symbol of well-being dough pizza.

A company representative explained, "We plan to operate the two brands separately," adding, "Through economies of scale, we have secured product cost competitiveness, improved logistics services, and created an opportunity to hedge against fluctuations in ingredient purchase prices."

Since Banolim Pizza was acquired by Orchestra PE at the end of 2021, it has laid the foundation for external growth despite the recession through continuous investment. The average annual sales growth rate over the three years following the acquisition by Orchestra PE is 59.2%.

Banolim Pizza’s sales rapidly grew from 19 billion KRW in 2021 to 33.8 billion KRW in 2022, and 53.8 billion KRW in 2023. Accordingly, the number of Banolim Pizza stores, which was 265 at the end of 2020, surged to 297 in June 2021, 343 at the end of 2021, and approximately 360 in 2023.

Majiheon, CEO of Banolim Pizza, said, “Through this acquisition of Ogu Ssalg Pizza, we have created an opportunity to improve operational efficiency and product quality based on the strengths of both brands,” adding, “We plan to grow into a leading K-Pizza brand by maintaining each brand’s unique tradition while expanding and developing them.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.