Jollibee sells Delifrance business unit

September 8, 2010

Stocks, Mutual Funds, Forex, Finance Philippines

Make Money Online, Stocks, Mutual Funds, Philippines

By 2011, gourmet sandwich and pasta company Delifrance will no longer be part of the Jollibee family. This is according to a disclosure by Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) sent to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on September 8.

The company disclosed that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fresh N’ Famous Foods Inc. (FNF), has entered into an agreement to sell assets of its Delifrance business unit to CafeFrance Corp. for P100 million cash. In connection with the sale, FNF will terminate its franchise agreement with Delifrance Asia Limited on December 31, 2010.

Delifrance started operations in the Philippines in 1995, first as a joint venture with Delifrance Asia Limited, then as a wholly-owned franchise of Jollibee since 2006.

The sale is said to be part of Jollibee Foods Corporation’s intention to concentrate resources on building its quick-service restaurant business. The company reports that the sale of assets and termination of franchise will have no material impact on JFC’s profit.

The new owner, CafeFrance Corp., plans to operate a coffee shop business in all existing Delifrance outlets under a new cafe concept and brand name.

Delifrance currently has 23 store locations in the Philippines, 3 of which are managed by franchisees.

As of July 31, 2010, JFC has 1,582 store branches in the Philippines:

702 Jollibee branches
406 Chowking branches
221 Greenwich branches
215 Red Ribbon branches
23 Delifrance branches
15 Manong Pepe’s branches

Outside the country, Jollibee operates 362 stores:

178 Yonghe King stores in the People’s Republic of China
61 Jollibee outlets (mostly in the US with 25, Vietnam with 18, and Brunei with 11)
37 Red Ribbon branches all in the US
36 Chowking outlets (mostly in the US with 19 and Dubai with 15)
50 Hong Zhuan Yuan stores in China