Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fast-food chain, is taking 100-percent ownership in Michelin star-rated dim sum restaurant chain Tim Ho Wan.
Jollibee said in a disclosure to the stock exchange it would buy the remaining 15-percent stake owned by its partners in Titan Dining LP, the fund that owns the Tim Ho Wan brand, for SG$71.56 million (P2.65 billion).
Following acquisition, the fast-food giant seeks to aggressively expand Tim Ho Wan in China with a target of reaching 100 restaurant outlets within the next four years.
Jollibee in 2018 initially acquired 45 percent in Titan, the master franchisee of Tim Ho Wan in the Asia Pacific region. The acquisition was part of the company’s plan to strengthen its position as one of Asia’s largest food service companies.
It increased its stake in Titan through a purchase mechanism provided for in the investment agreement.
Titan operates three Tim Ho Wan outlets in Mainland China and 53 outlets in Asia, mostly franchised stores with the largest concentration in Singapore (12), Taiwan (12), the Philippines (7) and Hong Kong (6).
Jollibee reported a net income of P976 million in the second quarter, a reversal of the P10.3-billion net loss in the same period last year when the country was first placed under strict quarantine controls.
System-wide sales, a measure of all sales to consumers, both from company-owned and franchised stores increased by 64.7 percent to P50.5 billion in the second quarter from a year ago.
Same-store sales in the Philippine business increased by 48 percent in the second quarter while international business grew by 28.4 percent, as China achieved a growth of 48 percent, North America 27.7 percent and Europe/Middle East/other parts of Asia, 21.2 percent.
The company said that compared to pre-pandemic levels, total system-wide sales and revenues in the second quarter were still lower by 15 percent and 16 percent, respectively from the same period in 2019.