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LISTED
fast-food service company, Jollibee Foods Corp., has
signed an agreement to complete the acquisition of 100
percent of Hongzhuangyuan, a chain of restaurants
located mostly in Beijing, China.
In a
disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Jollibee
said the actual purchase by and transfer of ownership
are estimated to take place in October 2008—although
still subject to approval by China’s Ministry of
Commerce. This agreement is a finalization of an initial
agreement made and disclosed on September 20, 2007.
Consistent with the initial agreement, the final
agreement provides that Jollibee—through its
wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte.
Ltd.—will acquire 100 percent of Hongzhuangyuan for P2.5
billion.
The
Beijing restaurant chain has an estimated 2008 annual
sales of P1.3 billion. The congee chain business is
quite profitable and has no debt.
Under
the terms of this final agreement, no payment is to be
paid until the completion of the purchase which is
subject to the approval by the Chinese government.
Hongzhuangyuan operates a total of 37 restaurants, of
which 31 are company owned, all located in Beijing and
six are franchised outlets situated in other cities in
China. It had added five company-owned restaurants since
the time of the initial agreement in September 2007.
The
Jollibee Group operates the largest restaurant network
in the country. As of June 30, it was operating a total
of 1,480 stores in the Philippines: Jollibee 632,
Chowking 381, Greenwich 235, Red Ribbon 201, Delifrance
28 and Manong Pepe’s 3.
In
foreign operations, the group had 209 stores: Yonghe
King in China 115; Jollibee in the US, 17; Red Ribbon in
the US, 23; Chowking in the US, 13; Chowking in Dubai,
10; Chowking in Indonesia, 5; Jollibee in other
countries, 25; and CST in China, 1—for a total of 1,689
stores worldwide. |
