South Korea’s SPC Group buys Lina’s French sandwich franchise to expand globally

SPC Group, a South Korean food company, bought Lina's, a French sandwich and salad restaurant franchise. The acquisition was revealed by the company on Tuesday, June 7.

As per The Korea Times, Lina's first landed in South Korea in the year 2002 after SPC Group secured a master franchise contract with Lina's Development. The company was able to operate several of the brand's sandwich and salad restaurants in the country.

Now, after two decades of operating the business as a franchisee, the SPC Group made the decision to acquire the restaurant chain through SPC Euro, the company's overseas company that is based in France.

The food and confectionery company is planning to expand its domestic and international business for Lina's while applying the brand's franchise techniques and its extensive experience in the food service industry. SPC believes that by doing so, it will be able to create synergy with its own bakery chain, which is the Paris Baguette, not only locally but globally as well.

"Lina's 30 years of technology in the food business and its experience in the French market will help SPC Group to expand its global business including to Europe," Jack Francis Moran, SPC Group's executive vice president of global strategy & development, said in a statement. "We will continue to make active investments to acquire more international brands while entering new markets to strengthen our global business."

In any case, as part of its plans, the SPC Group will make Lina's Development an international center to explore and develop new French dishes and adapt the recipes for the Paris Baguette chain menu. After this, the company will then expand its Paris Baguette brand in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, The Korea Economic Daily reported that the acquisition of Lina's SPC has earned the right to recruit new franchisees in some areas. With this, the company will be able to expand Lina's more easily.

At this time, there are around 30 Lina's restaurants in four countries that includes South Korea, France, Colombia, and Lebanon. More locations are expected to be added to the list once SPC completes its takeover and starts working towards its global expansion goals.