NY-based fund buys stake in Jollibee

New York-based asset management firm OppenheimerFunds Inc. (OFI) recently invested in Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC).

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, JFC said OFI had acquired 5.09 percent of JFC equivalent to 52.73 million shares. This is in compliance with a requirement for publicly listed companies to disclose the entry of “substantial” shareholders, or when an entity acquires an interest in excess of 5 percent.

Based on Monday’s stock closing, OFI’s recently acquired interest in JFC is now worth about P4.59 billion. OFI acquired the JFC stake for “investment purposes,” the disclosure said. The average purchase price by OFI was not disclosed.

JFC shares were up by 1.87 percent to P87.10 per share on Monday, giving it a market capitalization of P88.6 billion.

OFI, one of the largest asset management companies in the United States, manages more than 65 funds covering virtually all major asset classes and investment styles. As of end-2010, the group managed more than $182 billion in assets, including mutual funds having about 11 million shareholder accounts. Operating with a tagline “The Right Way to Invest,” the group has been in the fund management business since 1960.

JFC operates the largest food service network in the Philippines. As of end-2010, it had a total of 1,921 stores across the country: 717 for flagship Jollibee brand, 400 for Chowking, 223 for Greenwich, 221 for Red Ribbon, 12 for Manong Pepe Karinderia, three for Caffe Ti-Amo and 345 for Mang Inasal.

The group also has 395 stores abroad: Yonghe King in China with 200 stores, 67 for Jollibee (mainly in the United States with 26, Vietnam with 22 and Brunei with 11), 38 for Red Ribbon (all in the US), 38 for Chowking (19 in the US and 15 in Dubai) and 52 for Hongzhuangyuan. It has a total of 2,316 stores worldwide.—Doris C. Dumlao