Dive Brief:
- Minor Food and Serruya Private Equity will acquire Bonchon, a Korean fried chicken chain with 500 global units, from VIG Partners and Mr. Seo & Family, according to an emailed press release.
- Minor Food is buying the brand’s assets outside of the Americas, while Serruya will invest in growing the chain’s U.S. operations and pursue expansion in Canada, Mexico and Chile, per the press release.
- The deal is expected to close by the end of August and is the latest major deal in the restaurant sector, which has seen fairly significant mergers and acquisition activity in the last year.
Dive Insight:
Bonchon has several important advantages that could help it speed up growth, including “a loyal customer base, significant untapped growth potential and a highly scalable franchise model,” Michael Serruya, chairman of Serruya Private Equity, said in the press release.
Serruya and Minor International, the parent company of Minor Food, have collaborated successfully in the past to help grow restaurant brands, Serruya said. Minor Food is a subsidiary of Minor International, a major restaurant group in various Asian markets. Serruya is a private investment firm that backs consumer-facing and franchised brands in North America, per the press release.
Minor Food is already the master franchisee for Thailand, meaning the company has considerable experience working within Bonchon’s system and growing its brand.
Bonchon CEO Suzie Tsai, who joined the chain in 2024, said the new owners had the resources to “enhance our franchise network and help us accelerate our growth.”
Bonchon has grown its U.S. storebase steadily over the last several years, per its franchise disclosure documents, from 101 locations in 2020 to 151 at the end of 2025. The chain has said it plans to reach 500 U.S. locations, and hired Blas Escarcega as its chief development officer in March to support that ambitious growth target.
The sale of the fried chicken chain comes at a fairly busy point for restaurant M&A, particularly investor interest in Asian concepts. In just the last 10 days, Bain Capital bought up Gong Cha, a 2,200-unit bubble tea brand, and Gen Restaurant Group received a non-binding $100 million offer for its Korean BBQ chain.
Those potential deals followed three multi-billion dollar transactions in the spring. First, Roark sold Nothing Bund Cakes to KKR for a reported $2 billion, then in June, Yum Brands struck two deals worth a combined $2.7 billion to sell Pizza Hut in two parts.
