Fast-food restaurant group Jollibee Foods Corp. disclosed an agreement to buy 70 percent of Taipei restaurant brand Lao Dong for the equivalent of roughly P94 million.

It told the stock exchange that it had finalized an agreement on the principal terms of a joint venture that would allow it to acquire control of Lao Dong. It said payment for the 70-percent share and the transfer of the share to it would take place next month.

Jollibee?s said its wholly owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. would pay 42 million New Taiwan dollars (P63.1 million) to the present owners of Lao Dong and invest NT$21 million (P31.6 million) in the joint venture.

The present owners will invest NT$9 million (P13.5 million) in the joint venture, it added.

Jollibee said it would then expand the Lao Dong business in Taiwan and open outlets in China.

In China, Jollibee operates 129 Yonghe King fast-food stores, and owns the Beijing-based congee chain Hongzhuangyuan, which has 37 stores.

Jollibee said due-diligence studies had been done and the present owners had already met certain key conditions for the joint venture.

The financial due diligence was conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the legal due diligence by the Pamir Law Group in Taiwan, it said.

Jollibee described Lao Dong as a full-service restaurant with eight branches and a commissary in Taipei. It said Lao Dong continued to generate a profit, with annual sales averaging NT$121.6 million.

The business was founded in 1950 by Liu Cheng Hsiung and Liu Mei Chin, Jollibee said. Edited by INQUIRER.net