Jollibee acquires The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for $350 million

In its regulatory filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Jollibee Foods Corp said it has entered into an agreement to invest $100 million in a new Singapore-based holding company to take over 100 per cent of the Los Angeles-based specialty coffee and tea brand The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

The transaction will be conducted by Jolibee’s wholly owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte Ltd. in Singapore.

The total consideration for the acquisition is $350 million, with the remaining $250 million will be raised through issuance of preferred shares.

The acquisition is Jollibee Foods Corp’s largest and most multinational so far with business presence in 27 countries. This will add 14 per cent to its global system wide sales, 26 per cent to its total store network, and will bring international business’ contribution to 36 per cent of worldwide sales.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be Jollibee Foods Corp’s second largest business after Jollibee brand while coffee business will account for 14 per cent of the Phillipines-based company’s worldwide system sales.

“Combined with Highlands Coffee, with business mostly in Vietnam, this acquisition will enable JFC to become an important player in the large, fast growing and profitable coffee business,” wrote the filing.

“Our priority is to accelerate the growth of The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf brand particularly in Asia, by strengthening its brand development, marketing and franchise support system,” it added.

Jollibee Foods Corporation was incorporated on January 11, 1978. It develops, operates and franchises quick-service restaurants including Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, and Burger King. 

JFC also has subsidiaries and affiliates which develop and operate its international brands of Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Highlands Coffee, Pho 24, Smashburger and Dunkin’ Donuts.

By the end of 2017, there were 1,062 Jollibee stores nationwide, of which 530 were franchised and 532 are company-owned. 

On international operations, Jollibee had 198 stores with 37 stores in the US, two in Canada, 98 in Vietnam, 15 in Brunei, eight in Hong Kong, five in Singapore, and 33 in the Middle East.

SuperFoods is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jollibee’s JSF Investments Pte Ltd., and Viet Thai International JSC (VTI). The SuperFoods Group owns and operates Highlands Coffee and Pho 24, as well as the Hard Rock Cafe franchise shops in Vietnam, Macau, and Hong Kong.

JFC and VTI initially planned to conduct the Superfoods IPO in July 2019.

SuperFoods is known to be rather aggressive with its expansion plan in Vietnam, aiming to open 100 Highlands Coffee stores annually over the next five years.

As of December 2018, SuperFoods had 359 stores (317 Highlands Coffee stores with 275 in Vietnam and 42 in the Philippines, 34 Pho 24 stores with 18 in Vietnam and 16 in Indonesia, and eight other SuperFoods brand restaurants).