Outback Steakhouse, the Australian-themed U.S. restaurant chain that led the American-style dining boom in Korea in the mid-1990s, is seeking an exit from Korea after 19 years of business here, local reports said.

The U.S. Nasdaq-listed Bloomin‘ Brands, which owns the chain, will open preliminary bids for Outback Steakhouse Korea, with HSBC as its deal advisor. 


Outback Steakhouse Korea in 2014 ran nearly 110 restaurants across Korea, but the store count has now reduced to less than 70, suffering from sales drops amid intensifying competition in the local casual dining segment and the broad economy’s struggle. It is still the No. 1 player with a 23 percent share of the local market. As a limited company, Outback Steakhouse Korea does not publicly disclose sales figures.

This is the second time that Bloomin’ Brands has tried to divest from its Korean business. In 2010, the firm sought to sell operations in Korea, Japan and Hong Kong in a package deal, but failed due to price issues. European buyout fund Permira and Korea’s Hotel Shilla and CJ Group were among the bidders.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)