Jollibee Foods to take control of South Korea’s Compose Coffee in $340 million deal

Jollibee Foods to take control of South Korea’s Compose Coffee in $340 million deal

(Updated 1:12 p.m.) Philippine fastfood firm Jollibee Foods Corp JFC.PS will acquire a majority stake in privately held Compose Coffee, a South Korean coffee chain, as part of a deal valuing the target at $340 million, the company said on Tuesday.

Jollibee’s unit Jollibee Worldwide Pte will acquire 70% of Compose Coffee and its majority-owned Titan Fund will take 5%, the fast-food firm said in a disclosure. The remaining 25% will be held by private-equity firm Elevation, it said.

Compose Coffee has 2,470 stores, all franchised, giving it a debt-free balance sheet, and good cash returns and profitability margins, said Jollibee, which will increase its global store network to 10,000 with the deal.

—Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila and Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Neil Fullick