Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), one of Asia’s largest Asian food service companies, is buying out its remaining partners in the fund that owns the Tim Ho Wan brand at a cost of about P2.65 billion.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, JFC said its wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL), which already owns an 85 percent participating interest in the fund, shall pay SGD71.56 million to purchase the remaining 15 percent interest of other investors in Titan Dining LP.
Titan is the private equity fund which ultimately owns the Tim Ho Wan brand and company-owned THW stores.
JFC invested SGD45 million in Titan in May 2018 for a 45 percent participating interest in Titan Dining which was the master franchisee of Tim Ho Wan in the Asia Pacific region.
By investing in the fund at that time, JFC said it would have the opportunity to acquire a substantial ownership of Tim Ho Wan’s master franchise in the Asia Pacific region through a purchase mechanism provided for in the investment agreement.
To prepare for this eventuality, JFC would open a franchise operation of Tim Ho Wan in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China (PRC).
In October 2019, JFC disclosed that JWPL’s capital commitment to Titan increased from SGD45 million to SGD120 million, its participating interest increased to 60 percent and the fund size of Titan increased from SGD100 million to SGD200 million.
Titan Dining also expanded its assets by acquiring at about this time the Tim Ho Wan brand and trademarks.
In October 2020, JFC’s participating interest in the Titan fund increased further from 60 percent to 85 percent after JWPL purchased the 25 percent participating interest of another investor in the fund for a total consideration of SGD36.3 million.
In September 2020, JFC through a joint venture with Titan Dining opened a Tim Ho Wan restaurant in Shanghai, the first THW outlet in Mainland China. The joint venture now has three THW outlets in Shanghai with the latest opened only in July, 2021.
JFC plans to aggressively expand Tim Ho Wan in Mainland China with a target of reaching 100 restaurant outlets within the next four years.
Tim Ho Wan operates a total of 53 outlets in Asia, mostly franchised stores with the largest concentration in Singapore (12), Taiwan (12), Philippines (7) and Hong Kong (6).
JFC aims to build as an important part of its portfolio a significant business serving Chinese cuisine in different parts of the world.
Currently, JFC has five brands serving Chinese cuisine: Chowking, Yonghe King, Hong Zhuang Yuan, Panda Express in the Philippines, and Tim Ho Wan in China.