Pancake House in talks to buy Yellow Cab

MANILA, Philippines—Restaurant chain operator Pancake House is in talks to acquire pizza chain Yellow Cab Foods Corp. as part of the expansion of its casual dining segment.

The publicly listed PHI—which operates under the trade names Pancake House, Dencio’s, Teriyaki Boy, Singkit, Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak and Le Coeur de France—told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday that it was also in negotiation with certain parties to expand its regional footprint by establishing outlets in Singapore.

The restaurant group, which is led by the Lorenzo family, sees casual dining in the Philippines having a “great potential for sustainable financial growth.”

Yellow Cab, the company said was “one of the many that Pancake House finds great interest in due to the strong brand it owns, the premium products it serves and its impeccable financial growth since inception.”

Pancake House said it had conducted exploratory discussions with the owners of Yellow Cab but no agreement had been finalized.

Yellow Cab is owned by holding firms Entaben Holdings, Little Company of Mary and Avianti Capital Holdings and led by company president Edgardo Puno.