Philippines-based Jollibee Foods to acquire US cafe brand The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

Philippines' largest food service network operator, Jollibee Foods Corp is acquiring the US-based coffee chain The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) for $350 million. This deal is part of the fast-food company’s plan to expand outside its home market.

Jollibee, which has a market value of nearly $5.5 billion, will buy the coffee chain through a Singapore-based holding company. It will be acquired from private equity firm Advent International and other investors including the Sassoon family, a large shareholder in CBTL.

The coffee chain has 1,189 outlets spread across the United States, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and is rapidly growing in Asia. The brand’s nearly three-fourth outlets are franchised.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, owned by California-based International Coffee and Tea, posted $312.95 million in revenues and $21 million in net losses last year. The comapny had a debt of $83.56 million as of end-2018.

Tony Tan Caktiong, Chairman of Jollibee, said, “The acquisition of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be Jollibee's largest and most multinational so far with business presence in 27 countries.”

“The deal allows Jollibee to be a key player in the large, fast-growing and profitable coffee business. The priority is to accelerate Coffee Bean's growth in Asia. The acquisition will add 14% to Jollibee's global system-wide sales and 26% to its total store network,” he added.

Jollibee is known for its sweet-style spaghetti, burgers and fried chicken. It is operating the largest fast-food chain in the Southeast Asian nation with 3,195 restaurants.