JFC unit mandates banks for dollar-denominated issuance

MANILA, Philippines — Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Asian food conglomerate Jollibee Foods Corp., has mandated banks for a dollar-denominated issuance.

In a disclosure yesterday, JFC said it has mandated Citigroup Global Markets Singapore Pte. Ltd. and J.P. Morgan Ltd. as joint global coordinators.

It also tapped 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 commencing on Jan. 13.

A US dollar-denominated guaranteed senior perpetual capital securities offering may follow subject to market conditions, JFC said.

The company would likely use the proceeds to “refinance the short-term debt from the acquisition of International Coffee and Tea LLC, the company behind The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf as well as fund initiatives aligned with the issuer’s general corporate purposes.”

The securities will be accounted for as equity, and willstrengthen the balance sheet of the guarantor, in line with its policy of prudent financial management, JFC said.

JFC gobbled up the California-based coffee and tea shop giant last September, marking JFC’s biggest acquisition so far and moving the company a step closer to its goal of becoming one of the top five largest restaurant companies in the world.

It acquired CBTL for $350 million with an initial investment of $100 million. It also entered into an agreement to invest $100 million in a new Singapore-based holding company to acquire 100 percent of CBTL.

CBTL is JFC’s second largest business, next to the Jollibee brand.  The coffee business will account for 14 percent of JFC’s worldwide system sales.