Chairman Lee Jay-hyun of CJ Group.

CJ Group in going overseas to find future growth engines, even though its top manager is absent from the group’s management while he awaits court sentencing. 

The group has been engaged in M&As at home and abroad to ensure its future survival with the main areas being foods, bio, new goods distribution channels, and entertainment. The group has been elevating its food business to a global pedigree, rising from a local food producer over the years through an intensive operation in the area. The group has focused on spreading Korean foods all over the world, riding the coattails of a quickly expanding Hallyu, Korea-style entertainment. 

The group has been working on its globalization by selling animal feeds and livestock, along with the expansion of methionine sales produced by the Malaysian bio company the group took over early last year.

The Malaysian plant is capable of producing 80,000 tons of methionine annually, which will become the base for the group’s strategy to become a top 10 producer of high-tech animal feeds in the world. It will turn out high-quality animal feeds through its R&D centers in a number of Asian countries including China, Vietnam and at home in Korea.

The group plans to export Korean foods, mostly its Bibigo brand through 15 sales outlets around the world, including those in the U.S. and China. Besides Bibigo, the group operates 270 food stores including Tours Les Jours, A Twosome Place and VIPS in 10 countries so that the people around the world can have a taste of Korean food, according to its vision for global operation.

CJ Korea Express, with 78 logistics terminals in 22 countries around the world, will try to expand its logistics operations to rank among the five-largest logistics firms in the world by 2020. The company took over the largest logistics company in China for frozen goods, Roking Logistics, to expand its logistics operation there.

CJ is planning to focus on investing in the sectors with great overseas growth potential, such as logistics, biotechnology and multiplex cinemas. 

In a report, Yang Seung-suk, vice chairman of CJ Korea Express said: “Our priority right now is to focus on expanding into China and Southeast Asia.” CJ Korea Express is actively pursuing overseas expansion through ventures and acquisitions as it aims to become one of the world’s top providers of distribution and warehousing services, the report said.

The company is in talks to form a venture with a partner in China he declined to name it and expects to sign an agreement in the first half of the year, Yang said. He further added that future plans include the establishment of warehouse hubs in China’s Shenyang, Shanghai and Guangzhou to attract business from Chinese companies.

CJ Korea Express is also in talks on a venture to ship cargo by river in Vietnam and on a trucking service to haul goods for Myanmar’s government, Yang said. It’s also in negotiations to acquire a company in Brazil to provide logistics, he said.

According to industry sources on Jan. 6, the company has recently deployed M&A exports on the inside, completing the preparation for M&As with overseas firms. The group sold CJ O Shopping's 53.9 percent stake in CJ Hellovision to SK Telecom for 1 trillion won ($833.33 million), securing funds.

CJ is planning to focus on investing in the sector with great overseas growth potential, such as logistics, biotechnology and multiplex cinemas.

CJ Cheil Jedang, major affiliate of the group, is going forward with M&As in the biotechnology sector. The company pushed ahead with M&As with Vietnamese and Chinese companies, but it stopped at a step before the final takeover.

With the opening of CGV Chengdu in China, the company opened its 100th global theater last year.

A view of a lounge at the entrance of one of CGV movie houses operated by the group at home and abroad in China.(Photos:CJ Group).