LISTED Jollibee Foods Corp. announced on Wednesday it would buy the United States-based The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee chain for $350 million (P18 billion), making it the fastfood giant’s most significant and high-profile acquisition yet.

In a disclosure, Jollibee said its Singapore-based subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. would invest $100 million (P5 billion) in a new, still-unnamed holding firm, through which it would acquire Coffee Bean. The group will finance the amount through a bridge loan.