HUGE to Benefit from L Catterton’s Experience and Operating Capabilities in the Sector as it Accelerates its Growth in Japan and Expansion into Other Markets
L Catterton, a leading global consumer-focused investment firm, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to make a strategic investment in HUGE, a multi-concept restaurant group in Japan. The transaction positions HUGE for further growth in the country’s bustling restaurant market and to expand overseas by leveraging L Catterton’s expertise.
Japan’s urban restaurant scene is lauded across the world and continues to excite both domestic and international consumers. Bolstered by rising demand for experiential dining, the premium segment in which HUGE operates has been expanding the most and forecast to remain the fastest-growing part of the market over the coming years.
HUGE has carved a name for itself in the sector by offering elevated dining experiences across its 47 premium casual restaurants spanning an array of brands which specialize in Spanish, Italian, Mexican, American, Modern Asian, and other cuisines. Around 30 of them are located at attractive sites in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the rest are in other major cities like Fukuoka, Kyoto, Nagoya, and Okinawa.
The group therefore enjoys best-in-category customer ratings in aspects such as restaurant atmosphere, food and drink quality, as well as menu variety. It has market-leading booking rates as well, with most of its customers making reservations in advance across both lunch and dinner times, underscoring their patronage as destination visits. The group also has a large base of repeat customers underpinned by the 470,000 members of its official reservation platform and loyalty program, THE HUGE CLUB.
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Taka Shimizu, a Partner at L Catterton, commented, “HUGE is a truly differentiated restaurant group rooted in its unique ability to successfully create and operate multiple dining establishments in Japan with a wide range of concepts across a variety of cuisines. Given its distinctives, as well as strong brands and broadening loyalty program membership base, it is very well poised for further growth in the country’s restaurant market. We look forward to working closely with HUGE’s founder and chief executive officer Yoshihiro Shinkawa as well as his management team to enlarge the group’s presence in Japan and overseas as it pursues its ambition to be a global restaurant business.”
Mr Shinkawa added, “HUGE’s vision since its founding has been to ‘create high-quality restaurants that can last for over 100 years and add value to the towns in which they are situated’, offering locals and tourists outstanding dining experiences. Partnering with L Catterton enables us to better realize our vision as the firm has a proven track record of successfully investing in and growing restaurant companies with world-class brands. We are confident that L Catterton’s extensive experience and operating capabilities in the sector will be gamechangers as we strategically accelerate our domestic and international expansion.”
L Catterton has significant experience building restaurant brands across the globe. The firm has invested in around 30 restaurant businesses till date, with current and past portfolio companies in the space including Baja Fresh, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Cigierre, Dishoom, Hopdoddy, Mendocino Farms, P.F. Chang’s, and Velvet Taco. In Japan, it recently acquired Kisshokichi, the world’s largest Kobe beef restaurant chain, and has been helping to optimize operations and catalyze further growth.
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