Mom's Touch in talks to establish joint venture in Japan

The sidewalk is crowded with pedestrians in front of a Mom's Touch restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo, April 16. Courtesy of Mom's Touch By Ko Dong-hwan Mom's Touch is in talks with Japanese housing and urban developer Daiwa House to establish a joint venture (JV) to expand its fast food market share in Japan, according to the Korean chicken burger chain, Monday. Mom's Touch, which runs the biggest network of franchises in Korea's quick service restaurant (QSR) industry, is in discussions with Daiwa House and other Japanese companies for its JV bid, a Mom's Touch official said.

"We're talking with Daiwa House and other Japanese companies to establish our first JV in Japan," the official said. "It remains to be seen which of the candidates will be chosen (for the JV)." Daiwa House is a property developer in Japan that builds residential, commercial and logistics facilities.

It previously formed a JV with Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo in 2016 and introduced a large-scale logistics depot in Tokyo. It established its first JV in Korea the same year with Korean property company K-TOP REITs and launched a real estate business here. In 2022, it launched Roynet Hotel Seoul Mapo, its first overseas hotel, in western Seoul.

Mom's Touch's Japanese counterpart, once finalized, is expected to take over the brand's franchise expansion and operation of each restaurant in Japan and pay brand royalties to the Korean company in return. With the planned JV, Mom's Touch is expected to be able to stren.