Jollibee Switches International Listing from US to Hong Kong

Jollibee Foods Corporation will list its international business in Hong Kong, scrapping a previous plan for a US exchange flotation. The decision, which follows detailed work since the initial January 6, 2026 announcement, led to a 1.87 percent rise in the company's share price.

Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong stated that the preparatory work reinforced the company's conviction in the listing. He said Hong Kong is the market "best aligned with JFCI’s business, geographic footprint, and long-term ambitions." Completion of the separation and listing still requires approval from the Hong Kong exchange's listing committee, with no assurance on final terms or timing.

Hong Kong's Market Appeal

Hong Kong is experiencing its strongest primary market in years. HKEX chief executive Bonnie Chan told CNBC that more than 100 companies had listed during the year, with proceeds exceeding US$40 billion. This figure already surpasses the roughly US$37 billion raised across the whole of 2025.

The city has actively courted Southeast Asian issuers. In April, Chan noted more than 150 Southeast Asian companies were listed in Hong Kong, having raised over US$4.3 billion. By August, around 10 foreign companies had applied to list. Jollibee's move is seen as a major test of Hong Kong's pitch to regional firms.

The International Portfolio's Scale

The international arm, Jollibee Foods Corporation International (JFCI), is a multi-brand portfolio operator with a significant beverage focus. Richard Chong Woo Shin, currently JFCI's CEO, will lead the standalone company.

The portfolio includes wholly owned brands like Smashburger, Tim Ho Wan, and Yonghe King. It also holds controlling stakes in several beverage chains.

As of June, the entire Jollibee group operated 10,767 stores across 33 countries under 19 brands. Of these, 7,251 stores were outside the Philippines, representing close to seven in ten stores in a network that was overwhelmingly domestic two decades ago.

Regional Growth and US Franchising

Growth is compounding in Asia. In the second quarter, system-wide sales for the international business rose 25.4 percent, with same-store sales up 4.4 percent. Management reported Vietnam system-wide sales up 47.6 percent with same-store sales growth of 17.9 percent. Compose Coffee opened 145 stores in the half, a run rate of about 30 a month. Yonghe King had 537 stores in China and was already 65 percent franchised, heading for 70 percent by year-end.

In contrast, the Western footprint is smaller. The group had 340 stores in North America at the end of June, down from 357 a year earlier. Of these, the Jollibee brand itself accounted for 108 stores, with 106 company-owned and just two franchised. Jollibee only launched a US franchising programme in March 2025. By July, it had signed seven multi-unit development groups, outlining a path to 330 US franchise restaurants by 2030.

The Jollibee brand in the US posted 9.8 percent same-store sales growth, its 66th consecutive month of gains. Smashburger grew same-store sales 7 percent on 10.4 percent traffic growth, but its store count fell from 203 to 180.

Strategic Ambitions and Unresolved Questions

According to Brand Finance, Jollibee's brand value rose 2 percent this year to US$3.3 billion, placing it 18th among the world's 25 most valuable restaurant brands. Group president and CEO Ernesto Tanmantiong aims to push the flagship brand into the global top five, a tier no Southeast Asian consumer group has reached.

Achieving this requires JFCI to transform into a franchised, capital-light platform that compounds returns. The listing does not yet answer what assets JFCI will contain when it trades. In March, Jollibee said Highlands Coffee's board was evaluating an IPO in Vietnam, targeting a listing by the first quarter of 2027. Bloomberg reported a potential raise of up to US$400 million for a chain that has grown from 56 outlets in 2012 to about 1,000.