MILAN – Jollibee, the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, plans to issue US dollar-denominated debt paper to address debt incurred for its $350-million acquisition of US-based global specialty coffee chain The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL).
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, JFC said its wholly owned subsidiary, Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd., had mandated Citigroup Global Markets Singapore Pte. Ltd. and J.P. Morgan (SEA) Ltd. as joint global coordinators, and Citigroup, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan and Mizuho Securities as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings in Hong Kong, Singapore and London.
Subject to market conditions after the road shows, which will start on Jan. 13, JFC said a Regulation S US-dollar guaranteed senior perpetual capital securities offering might follow.
Jollibee plans to use proceeds from the contemplated offering to refinance the short-term debt from the acquisition of CBTL completed in September as well as fund general corporate activities.
Jollibee acquired a 100-percent stake in CBTL for $350 million (P18.3 billion) on a debt-free basis.
The acquisition was done through Java Ventures LLC, a US-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Super Magnificent Coffee Company Pte. Ltd. (SMCC Singapore).
The payment for the acquisition of CBTL was funded by proceeds from bridge loans entered into by JWPL with several financial institutions.
