Jollibee taking over US franchise of Chowking

MANILA, Philippines—Local fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. is taking over the operations of a chain of 20 restaurants of its Chinese fast-food brand Chowking in the United States currently operated by a master franchisee.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, JFC said its subsidiary Tokyo Teriyaki Corp. had signed an agreement to acquire from Fortune Food Service Co. Inc. and its relates companies the assets of all its US-based Chowking stores, 18 of which are in California and one each in Nevada and Washington.

The Fortune group currently owns and operates all Chowking stores in the US as a master licensee.

The purchase price for the assets is $16 million of which $12 million will be paid on May 27 and $800,000 shall be paid annually over the next five years.

“With this acquisition, JFC will be poised to take a more active role in the further growth of the Chowking business in the USA,” JFC said.

Tokyo Teriyaki will take over operations of all Chowking stores in the US by May 27 this year.