SINGAPORE - Restaurant and bakery group BreadTalk Group has signed a agreement with Thailand's Minor Food Group to set up a 50:50 joint venture to operate a bakery business under the name of BreadTalk Thailand.
This is the first collaboration between the two companies since Minor Food Group, a unit of Minor International, took an 11 per cent stake in BreadTalk Group last year, the companies said in a joint statement on Friday.
BreadTalk Group, listed in Singapore, will invest 103 million baht (S$3.96 million) for its 50 per cent share of BreadTalk Thailand. The joint venture is expected to be established by Sep 30.
"With Minor Food Group as our strategic partner, we will be able to accelerate BreadTalk's store growth in Thailand," said BreadTalk Group chairman George Quek.
The Singapore company entered Thailand in 2005 and currently has 23 company-owned bakery outlets under the BreadTalk and Toast Box brands as well as two franchised Din Tai Fung restaurants and three self-operated Food Republic food courts.
"We are pleased to welcome one of the most exciting bakery brands into our Thai portfolio," said Minor Food Group chief executive Paul Kenny.
"We look forward to working with BreadTalk to successfully grow the operation in Thailand, a market in which we are confident that immense growth potential exists for the bakery business."
