South Korean foodservice provider Our Home Ltd. is seeking to buy Hacor Inc., an in-flight catering service, from Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. (HHIC) to further expand its food business portfolio.

According to industry sources on Tuesday, Our Home has recently been named the preferred bidder for Hacor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HHIC. Analysts expect the deal to be worth around 70 billion won ($65.6 million) to 100 billion won. Our Home declined to provide further details as the talks are currently underway.

Based in Los Angeles, Harco is an in-flight catering service provider that is capable of feeding 20,000 passengers a day. It supplies 30 percent of all airline meals at LA International Airport, servicing airlines mainly based in Asian countries, France and the Middle Eastern nations.

While the caterer has been showing solid performance, with a net profit of 2.9 billion won on sales of 80.1 billion won in 2016, HHIC found it had little synergy with its mainstay shipbuilding business and decided to put it up for sale last August. The decision was also driven by the shipbuilder’s recent restructuring efforts after racking up losses for five straight years since 2013 amid the global industry slump.

Market observers said the recent sale is likely to accelerate Our Home’s foray into other business sectors and broaden its presence overseas. Founded in 1984, Our Home currently provides food services in schools, hospitals and leisure facilities in Korea. China is another country it has been aggressively seeking to expand its presence since 2010.

By Lee Duk-joo and Kim Hyo-jin

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