Reuters has reported that Yildiz Holding is looking to sell Godiva chocolate’s Japanese business with an asking price of around $1.5 bn.
The news comes a day after rival luxury chocolate maker, the UK’s Hotel Chocolat, announced plans to open outlets in Japan (and the US) this year.
Godiva sells through hundreds of boutique outlets in more than 80 countries, as well as wholesale through other stores.
Reuters said Godiva’s Japanese business has revenue of approximately $350m a year and is likely to appeal to companies or investors with experience in Japan.
Yildiz, which also owns McVities biscuits, is one of Turkey’s biggest conglomerates and the Reuters’ source said the sale process for Godiva’s Japanese business is expected to start in the coming weeks.
According to Reuters, Yildiz spent $850m to buy Godiva in 2007, as well as an estimated £2bn ($2.63bn) on McVitie’s maker United Biscuits and $221m on DeMet’s, maker of Flipz chocolate pretzels, in 2014.
According to Euromonitor International, Japan is the world’s sixth-largest chocolate market (accounting for 5% of sales) with estimated 2018 retail sales of $5.2 billion.