TGI Friday's sold by Lotte GRS to Mad for Garlic owner

A TGI Friday's restaurant [LOTTE GRS]

TGI Friday’s in Korea has been sold by Lotte GRS, which operates Lotteria, the seller announced Wednesday.

The buyer is MFG Korea, which owns Mad for Garlic.

Korea currently has 15 TGI Friday’s, which specializes in American-style food, down from a peak of 50.

Lotte GRS did not reveal the sale price, but MFG Korea reportedly offered around 10 billion won ($8.9 million) for the asset, according to a report from Pulse News in April.

TGI Friday’s opened its first restaurant in Korea in Yangje, southern Seoul, in 1992.

Its popularity began to wane starting in the mid-2000s, as people became less interested in family restaurants due to reasons like the increasing number of single-person households.

Family restaurants were also hit hard by the Covid-19 outbreak, as more people started dining at home to avoid the virus.

Lotte GRS plans to “focus on our main business of franchises and to strengthen the brand competitiveness,” said a spokesperson for the company.

Lotte GRS, which also runs the Angel-in-us coffee chain, started operating TGI Friday’s in 2009.

Affirma Capital, a private equity fund, is the largest shareholder of MFG Korea.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]