A Carlyle spokesperson declined to comment on price.

A special investment vehicle in which Anchor was a participant had a 73.89% stake in Twosome as of end-2020, after having bought an additional 45% stake in 2019 for 202.5 billion won ($171.27 million) from CJ Foodville Co Ltd, according to company filings.

A Twosome Place was established in 2002 and currently operates over 1,400 stores, Carlyle said in a statement.

Carlyle intends to work with management to "build upon the strong franchise network and capture the significant white space in the Korean market," said John Kim, Managing Director at Carlyle.

($1 = 1,182.3400 won)

(Reporting by Joyce Lee)