Jollibee acquires 12% stake in US restaurant

Fastfood giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) has signed an agreement to acquire a 12- percent stake in  US-based Chow Fun Holdings LLC, which owns a casual dining restaurant serving pan-Asian food, for $950,000 (roughly P42.75 million).

Chow Fun’s Jinja Bar and Bistro serves Southeast Asian cuisines, featuring dishes from Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.  It has two outlets in New Mexico — Sta. Fe and Albuquerque.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, JFC said the acquisition is being made  “to enhance its capability in developing Asian food restaurant concepts for the mainstream consumers in the United States as part of its long-term strategy. “

Jinja Bar and Bistro uses fresh, authentic ingredients and adds distinctive twists to popular dishes such as potstickers, noodle bowls, tempura, and beef and fish dishes.

When completed, the deal would be JFC’s fifth overseas  acquisition following Lao Dong (a chain of full-service restaurants in Taiwan and China serving beef noodles),  Hongzhuangyuan ( which offers a variety of local Chinese food centered around congee), Yonghe King  (which serves Chinese food using a Western fastfood service system) and teahouse chain Chun Shui Tang.

The move is likewise part of JFC’s efforts to build its steadily growing restaurant chain overseas.

JFC is the country’s largest food service network with a total of 1,686 stores as of end-June this year, 1,479 of which are located in the Philippines while the remaining 207 are based overseas. 

JFC said it “will continue to enter into joint ventures and alliances with institutions and individuals in conjunction with building its internal organization capability in order to achieve its long-term objectives.”

 JFC  through its subsidiaries operates 51 restaurants in the US  as of June 30, 2008 —  Jollibee (15), Red Ribbon (23) and Chowking (13) — practically all in the West Coast serving mainly Filipinos living there.

Notwithstanding the slowdown in the US economy and consumer spending, JFC is aggressively expanding its operations in the world’s largest economy with plans to open 25 new stores this year or 54 percent higher than the 2007 level.   

In the next few years, JFC plans to open more stores in other cities in the US,  Canada and Hawaii.

JFC said its businesses in the US are earning a return on investments above the group’s cost of capital.

JFC also  owns pizza-pasta chain Greenwich, upscale delicatessen DeliFrance and the carinderia-type Tio Pepes.