Jollibee completes sales of coffee and gelato business

December 1, 2011 12:08pm

Jollibee Foods Corp., the country's largest owner and operator of fastfood restaurants, has completed the sale of Caffe Ti-Amo, a Korean restaurant brand to CafeFrance Corp.

In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, Jollibee Foods said subsidiary Coffeetap Corp., which held the Caffe Ti-Amo franchise, completed the sale on November 30 and also terminated its franchise agreement.

The sale of Caffe Ti-Amo came just more than a year after acquiring its master franchise.

Jollibee Foods earlier said that Coffeetap would sell the assets of Caffe Ti-Amo, a coffee and gelato business, to CafeFrance for P20 million to be paid in cash.

CafeFrance is the same company that bought the assets of 'Delifrance' from JollibeeFood's subsidiary, Fresh N'Famous Foods Inc. last year.

In May 2010, JFC announced that it signed a joint venture agreement with local entrepreneurs that gave it entry into the coffee and gelato business. This joint venture became the master franchisee in the Philippines of Caffe Ti-Amo, which has two stores presently.

"JFC's divestment of its 'Caffe Ti-Amo' business is in anticipation of the commencement of new businesses, San Pin Wang in Guang Xi Province in the People's Republic of China, and the joint venture with Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company in Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia," the company had said.

Jollibee Foods, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd., signed an agreement to enter into a joint venture with Guangxi Zong Kai Food and Beverage Investment Co. Ltd. on April 30, 2010. As of that date, San Pin Wang had a chain of 34 stores in China.

Jollibee Foods through JWPL and GZK have been taking steps to restructure San Pin Wang's legal entities that will culminate in the formalization of this joint venture. The joint venture will likely be formalized in the next few months.

Also, on May 20, 2011, Jollibee Foods, through JWPL, signed a framework agreement with Viet Thai to establish a platform for owning and operating a portfolio of restaurants in various territories including Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau and Southern China.

In April 2011, the company so discontinued the operations of its Manong Pepe business after acquiring Mang Inasal in November 2010.

As of September 30, 2011, Jollibee Foods operates 1,946 stores in the country and 437 stores abroad. - CMA/OMG, GMA News


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