This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 3:34 p.m. on Mar. 30, 2026.
Domestic contact lens company PPB Studios has been put up for sale. Private equity fund (PEF) manager KL&Partners is pushing to acquire it, and the corporate value is said to be in the range of 150 billion to 200 billion won.
According to the investment bank (IB) industry on the 30th, KL&Partners is conducting due diligence to acquire PPB Studios.
PPB Studios plans and operates contact lens brands. It was founded in Dec. 2011 and operates subsidiaries and partner entities in Korea, the United States, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Taiwan. It uses an online D2C channel (a method in which a brand sells products directly to consumers through its own mall without going through intermediate distribution) and directly manages local distribution networks.
PPB Studios' flagship brand is "Hapa Kristin," which hired girl group IVE member Jang Won-young as its advertising model. It also has brands such as "Chuu" and "Gem Hour." The company said it is growing rapidly, with sales in Japan doubling year over year as of the third quarter of last year.
The market estimates PPB Studios' corporate value at about 150 billion to 200 billion won. For Interojo, a corporation in the same industry, the price-to-sales ratio (PSR) calculated based on last year's sales (118.4 billion won) and its current market capitalization (about 220 billion won) is about 1.8 times. Applying this to PPB Studios' estimated sales last year (60 billion to 70 billion won) and adding a 30% control premium yields about 140 billion to 170 billion won.
The market expects that if KL&Partners buys PPB Studios this time, it could seek synergy with K-beauty company Manyo Factory, which it acquired last year.
KL&Partners acquired 51.87% control equity in Manyo Factory for 190 billion won in May last year. That implies a total corporate value of about 370 billion won. Manyo Factory is similar to PPB Studios in that it is also growing rapidly overseas, especially in Japan. Sixty percent of Manyo Factory's total sales come from overseas, about 60% of which are from Japan.
However, some in the industry believe that the legal risks surrounding PPB Studios have not been fully resolved and could introduce uncertainty in the transfer of control.
PPB Studios provides a service that allows customers to reserve and purchase contact lenses online through its subsidiary Wink Company. Star Vision, the No. 1 contact lens company in Korea, and the Korean Optometric Association filed a criminal complaint last Feb. against Lee Seung-jun, CEO of Wink Company, alleging a violation of the Medical Technicians Act.
The case was dismissed without indictment by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office. However, Star Vision and the optometrists' association filed an appeal for reconsideration with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 23rd of last month, and it has been confirmed that the Inspection Department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is reexamining the case.
PPB Studios believes the odds are very low that a case dismissed consecutively by the Central District Prosecutors' Office and the High Prosecutors' Office will be overturned at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. On the other hand, Star Vision and the optometrists' association are giving weight to the possibility of a reversal at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, citing concerns raised by some in the National Assembly.
Baek Hye-ryeon, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, said during last year's National Assembly audit that "a pickup service in which customers simply receive products at an optical shop after ordering online is effectively a loophole that is no different from non-face-to-face online sales," urging authorities to assess and act on the indirect distribution method of contact lenses.