Philippines-based Jollibee Foods to buy US cafe brand The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

Philippines-based Jollibee Foods Corp is acquiring the US-based coffee chain The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) for $350 million. The agreement is in line with the fast-food company’s plan to expand outside its home market.

Jollibee will be buying the coffee chain through a Singapore-based holding company. CBTL will be acquired from private equity firm Advent International and other investors including the Sassoon family, a large shareholder in CBTL.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, owned by California-based International Coffee and Tea, has 1,189 outlets, of which, nearly three-fourth are franchised. These outlets are spread across the United States, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and are rapidly growing in Asia.

Last year, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf reported $312.95 million in revenues and $21 million in net losses. It had a debt of $83.56 million as of end-2018.

Tony Tan Caktiong, Chairman of Jollibee, said, “The acquisition of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be Jollibee's largest and most multinational so far with business presence in 27 countries.”

“The deal allows Jollibee to be a key player in the large, fast-growing and profitable coffee business. The priority is to accelerate Coffee Bean's growth in Asia. The acquisition will add 14% to Jollibee's global system-wide sales and 26% to its total store network,” he further added.

Jollibee, known for its sweet-style spaghetti, burgers and fried chicken, is operating the largest fast-food chain in the Southeast Asian nation with 3,195 restaurants.