HK$1 billion for Tam’s noodles? Japan’s Toridoll has the appetite
Toridoll, Japan’s biggest operator of noodle shops, wants to open 6,000 outlets around the world by 2025 and to be among the top 10 global restaurant brands
Toridoll Holdings Corp, Japan’s biggest operator of noodle shops and eateries, said it will buy control of the Hong Kong company that operates Tam’s Yunnan Rice Noodles (譚仔雲南米線) outlets in the city in a takeover valued at 15 billion yen (HK$1 billion).
The takeover of Jointed-Heart Catering Holdings would give Toridoll an important foothold to expand into mainland China, part of the Kobe-based company’s aim to open 6,000 stores around the world by 2025, company spokesman Shunsuke Fukabori said.
“The acquisition will help us accelerate expansion in the Hong Kong and Chinese mainland markets”, riding on the popularity of the TamJai brand of noodles, as the Yunnan noodles are called, Fukabori said in an interview with the South China Morning Post, without divulging the value of the takeover. Japan’s Nikkei estimated the price at 15 billion yen.
The acquisition, which will be signed on Tuesday, was scheduled for completion in February 2018, after which Tam’s would operate “as usual”, Fukabori said.
Toridoll, which has been listed since 2006, now operates 890 restaurants in Japan selling ramen, udon, yakitori and pasta, as well as 340 restaurants overseas.
