Lotte Confectionery to buy Myanmar’s L&M Mayson

South Korea’s Lotte Confectionery Co. will acquire Myanmar’s biggest bakery and confectionery company L&M Mayson to expand its presence in the country and further Indochina. 

Lotte Confectionery announced Tuesday that its board of directors approved the plan to take over an 80 percent stake or 25,580,283 shares in L&M Mayson for 76.9 billion won ($68 million), about 9.3 percent of its total equity capital of 827.2 billion won. The acquisition date is expected to be set on January 15, 2019. 

Established in 1996, L&M Mayson is the largest bread-baking company in Myanmar with annual sales of approximately 35 billion won. It runs three manufacturing plants, 12 sales branches and 10 logistics centers in the country.

According to Lotte Confectionery, Myanmar is the third Southeast Asian market that it has tapped into, since its 2007 entrance to Vietnam and 2011 to Singapore.

The Southeast Asian confectionery and bakery market is a major emerging market eyed by South Korean companies, which believe it has strong potential because of its relatively young population: about 70 percent of people there are under 40. 

Lotte Confectionery said it plans to expand the business and increase brand awareness in Southeast Asia through L&M Mayson.