Unison Capital Korea: Gong Cha

In the Spring of 2017, Soomin Kim, Founding Partner of Unison Capital Korea, and his team were debating the potential exit of Unison Capital Korea’s investment in Gong Cha Korea, the sole local franchisor of the premium milk tea brand that they proprietarily sourced three years ago. Since acquiring Gong Cha Korea in 2014, Unison Capital Korea sought to transform what was an unorganized start-up into an established business by professionalizing its management and operations, expanding into untapped overseas markets, and even acquiring the master franchisor of the Gong Cha global business. In early 2017, however, Gong Cha Korea was showing mixed signals in terms of operational and financial performance when Unison Capital Korea received a soft bid for the company from a potential financial buyer. This bid offered an early exit opportunity at a modest return. Investment Committee members were divided. Several factors concerning value-add initiative were considered in evaluating this decision. What made it more complicated was that Gong Cha Korea was the first and largest deal of Unison Capital Korea. With these strategic considerations in mind, Soomin had to decide which path to take on his firm’s biggest deal to date—should he pursue an early exit with modest yet certain returns or risk waiting in hopes of realizing the longer-term full potential of transformation?