Jollibee to acquire entire stake in China-based restaurant

MANILA, Philippines - Jollibee Foods Corp., the country's largest operator of fast food chains, is set to acquire the entire stake of a chain of restaurants in China. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, JFC said it will be paying P2.5 billion for the entire stake of Hongzhuangyuan, which operates a total of 37 restaurants in China. "Consistent with the initial agreement, the final agreement provides that Jollibee Food Corp., through its wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd., will acquire 100 percent of Hongzhuangyuan for...(P2.5 billion) based on a multiple of earnings that is comparable with JFC's previous acquisitions," the company said. It added that Hongzhuangyuan, which operates 31 restaurants in Beijing and six in other cities in China, has an estimated sales of P1.3 billion for this year. The Jollibee group has two other restaurants in China- Yonghe King and CST. In the Philippines it has a total of 1,480 stores including Jollibee, Red Ribbon, Chowking, Greenwich, Delifrance and Manong Pepe's. Overseas, it operates 115 Yonghe King restaurants and one CST in China; 17 Jollibee, 23 Red Ribbon, and 13 Chowking in the US. Chowking also has 10 stores in Dubai and five stores in Indonesia. Jollibee also operates in 25 other countries. GMANews.TV