SEOUL, June 21 — Ediya Coffee, South Korea's third-largest coffee franchise by sales, said today it has signed a master franchise deal with a Malaysian company to open three outlets in the country this year, Yonhap news agency reported.
Malaysia is the second country to which Ediya is advancing to do its coffee chain business after opening its first overseas outlet in Guam in December.
The Malaysian partner, a joint company set up between a local restaurant franchise firm and a local distribution company, plans to open 200 Ediya outlets within the next five years, Ediya said in a statement.
Ediya did not provide the names of the companies.
"Our presence in Malaysia would help the company explore into other Southeast Asian markets," Ediya Chairman Moon Chang-ki said in the statement.
Under a master franchise deal, the master franchisor allows the master franchisee not only to open franchise units itself in a specified area but also to sub-franchise them to third parties.
Established in 2001, Ediya Coffee is a homegrown, lower-priced coffee franchise that operates around 3,000 stores in Asia's fourth-biggest economy.
— Bernama-Yonhap
