Jollibee raises stake in US resto operator Chow Fun

Jollibee Foods Corp. on Thursday said it has raised to 80.6 percent from 12 percent its interest in the United States restaurant operator Chow Fun Holdings LLC. The fastfood giant’s additional stake in Chow Fun – owner and developer of the Asian-oriented Jinja Bar and Bistro in New Mexico, USA – will allow Jollibee to add to its three restaurants in New Mexico, two in Albuquerque, and another in Santa Fe. Making the acquisition through its wholly owned subsidiary, Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd., the company said it wants to enhance its Asian restaurant concepts for mainstream American consumers. With the acquisition, the company expects continued growth in 2011. "We expect our fairly new businesses in China, the United States, the Middle East and Vietnam and our newly acquired business, Mang Inasal to drive our sales and profit growth. We expect our established business in the Philippines to continue to deliver stable sales and profit growth," Jollibee chairman and chief executive officer Tony Tan Caktiong said in a previous statement. As of end-2010, Jollibee Foods operates a worldwide network of 2,316 stores – a 23-percent increase from a year earlier – largely owing to its acquisition of Mang Inasal. Jollibee Foods operates 1,921 of such stores in the Philippines and 395 spread in the United States, China, Vietnam and Brunei. The company allotted P5.7 billion in capital expenditures last year, more than double the P2.6 billion it spent in 2009. Its expenses last year were the P2.8-billion construction of new stores and renovation of existing ones, and the P2.7-billion acquisition of a 70-percent stake in Mang Inasal. It also spent P128 million for its initial construction cost for a commissary in China. – With Paterno Esmaquel II/VS, GMA News