Jollibee invests in Tim Ho Wan franchise

Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. is investing up to 45 million Singaporean dollars (P1.74 billion) in a private equity fund that will own the Asia-Pacific master franchise of popular Michelin star-rated dimsum restaurant chain Tim Ho Wan.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Jollibee said it would invest the amount in Titan Dining LP, which has executed a binding agreement for the acquisition of 100 percent of the Tim Ho Wan Asia-Pacific franchise-holder, Tim Ho Wan Pte Ltd. (THWPL) and its affiliate Dum Sum Pte Ltd. (DSPL), which owns and operates Tim Ho Wan stores in Singapore.

TPWL holds the exclusive long-term master franchise to operate Tim Ho Wan restaurants in Asia-Pacific, excluding Hong Kong. Aside from DSPL in Singapore, THWPL has franchisees in Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and the Philippines, with further development planned in the region.

The group has 40 restaurant outlets under THWPL and DSPL, including franchised stores.

Titan has a fund size of 100 million SGD, with Jollibee thus constituting 45 percent of total committed investments.