Jumbo in JV deal to open first Beijing restaurant (Amended)

JUMBO Group announced on Monday it has entered into a joint-venture (JV) agreement to open its first Jumbo Seafood restaurant in Beijing.

The agreement was concluded between its indirect wholly owned subsidiary Jumbo F&B Services (Shanghai) and Beijing Hualian (SKP) Departmental Store, a member of Beijing Hualian Group. The former will hold a 51 per cent stake in the JV, while Beijing Hualian will hold the remaining 49 per cent.

The new restaurant is slated for opening by the third quarter of 2017, and will be the latest addition to its three existing restaurants in Shanghai.

The latest restaurant will be located within Beijing SKP, one of the high-end luxury and fashion shopping malls in Beijing and China.

Ang Kiam Meng, group CEO and executive director of Jumbo, said: "The restaurant's privileged location enables us to reach out to the more affluent segment of the market, which is cosmopolitan in outlook and more adventurous in their culinary pursuits."

This comes shortly after Jumbo signed a franchise agreement in Vietnam in December 2016 to open three outlets in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang over the next two years.

Amendment note: In the previous version of the story, the name of the mall was cited as Shanghai SKP. It should be Beijing SKP. The story has been revised to reflect the change.