McDonald’s rival Jollibee eyes US listing for global business

Shares of Jollibee Foods Corp jumped the most in more than five years after it announced plans to spin off its international business and list it on a US stock exchange by late 2027 as the Philippine fast-food group plots its global expansion.

Jollibee, which increasingly is taking aim at global fast-food giants such as McDonald’s and Yum! Brands Inc. from Los Angeles to Ho Chi Minh City, said Tuesday said it has hired international and local advisers to work on the spinoff and potential US listing.

Read: McDonald’s to sell $153m in Hong Kong store space

Jollibee Foods Corporation International would include all of the company’s businesses outside its home market, the company said in a statement filed to the Philippine Stock Exchange, where its Philippine operations will remain listed.

Jollibee shares — after a one-hour trading halt — rose as much as 11.56% on Tuesday, the most since October 2020.

Establishing two listed businesses is designed to sharpen the strategic focus of each company and enhance the “clarity of each equity story,” Jollibee said.

The spinoff would allow investors to value the “stable, cash-generative Philippine business separately from the higher-growth but more volatile international operations,” COL Financial Group analyst Rachelle Biacora said in a note. However, the company’s domestic unit may have a lower market value, which could affect its weighting in some stock indexes, she added.

Jollibee shareholders would receive a number of shares in the international business equal to their company holdings at the time of the listing, the company said.

The food giant owns several brands, including its iconic Jollibee chain known for its sweet-style spaghetti and crispy fried chicken.

Jollibee is building its international profile, striking 27 cross-border deals worth around $1.1 billion since 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That includes US brands such as Smashburger and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, which Jollibee struggled to turn around, and recently, South Korea’s Compose Coffee.

The group had 10 304 stores as of September, of which 6,859 were located overseas across over 30 countries, including China, Canada and Vietnam. International business generated around 43% of Jollibee’s 224.2 billion pesos ($3.8 billion) revenue from January to September.

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