Jollibee buys Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf for $136m
MANILA: Jollibee Foods, the Philippines' largest food chain operator, is buying US brand Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) for US$100 million (S$136 million) as part of an expansion outside its home market.
Jollibee, which has a market value of nearly US$5.5 billion, is buying loss-making CBTL from private equity firm Advent International and other investors including the Sassoon family, a large shareholder in CBTL.
Los Angeles-based CBTL has 1,189 outlets spread across the US, South-east Asia and the Middle East, and is rapidly growing in Asia.
Nearly three-fourths of its outlets are franchised.
Jollibee will invest US$100 million for an 80 per cent share in a Singapore holding company that will acquire CBTL.
The remaining 20 per cent stake will be owned by Jollibee's partner in its Vietnam coffee and restaurant business.
As part of the transaction, Jollibee will fork out another US$250 million, a portion of which was allotted to pay CBTL's debt. The amount will be paid back by the holding company.
"The acquisition of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be Jollibee's largest and most multinational so far with business presence in 27 countries," Jollibee Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong said in a statement yesterday. - REUTERS
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