Jollibee sells stake in Chinese noodle restaurant chain

Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. has completed the sale of its 55-percent interest in Chinese noodle restaurant chain Guangxi San Pin Wang Food and Beverage Management Co. Ltd. (San Pin Wang).

The largest Asian food service company recently disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that its wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. (JWPL) had executed the divestment of its shares in San Pin Wang in favor of its local partner. With the completion of the divestment, Guangxi Zong Kai Food Beverage Investment Co. Ltd. (GZK) is now the registered owner of 100 percent of San Pin Wang.

Jollibee bought into San Pin Wang in 2012 but is now focused on building its Yonghe King business, its largest business in China with 315 stores as of Nov. 30 last year.

The company said the “divestment of its shareholdings in San Pin Wang is part of its intention to concentrate its resources on businesses with greater potential.”

Flagship business Yonghe King is one of the most well-known non-Western restaurant chains in China.

Last year, the Jollibee group acquired the 30-percent share of its former partner in Happy Bee Foods Processing through an asset-for-equity swap to own 100 percent of the food processing plant. It has divested from a business line producing and selling food products for third party institutions in China.

“This move is intended to focus on supporting Yonghe King by further improving food quality, strengthening food safety and accelerating product innovations,” the group said.

San Pin Wang’s stores are located mostly in Nanning in Guangxi Province in the southern part of the People’s Republic of China. Its menu is centered on low-priced beef noodle.

At the time of acquisition, San Pin Wang had 34 stores and the business was already profitable. By the time Jollibee divested from it, San Pin Wang had grown its network to 71 stores and plans to continue expanding in 2017 and in the years ahead. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA