Food and beverage group BreadTalk, which manages the BreadTalk and Toast Box chains, is planning to cook up a storm in China and Thailand with the popular Song Fa Bak Kut Teh restaurant.

Singapore-listed BreadTalk yesterday said it had entered into a joint venture agreement with Song Fa Holdings, which has seven bak kut teh outlets here and four in Jakarta, Indonesia.

BreadTalk unit Together Inc will own 90 per cent and Song Fa 10 per cent of the joint venture, which will enter into "a master franchise to develop and operate" the popular Teochew bak kut teh brand in Thailand and four major Chinese cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

The first Song Fa Bak Kut Teh restaurant is expected to open in Shanghai in the last three months of this year. Next year, the venture plans to open two restaurants in Thailand, and three more in China.

Song Fa began in 1969, when founder Yeo Eng Song started selling bak kut teh in Johore Road, near Victoria Street, where it later found a more permanent home in 1975. It will open its eighth outlet this month at Northpoint in Yishun.

BreadTalk will contribute in areas such as business development, central kitchen management and front-line execution.

The investment is not expected to have any material impact on the earnings per share and net tangible assets of BreadTalk for the financial year ending Dec 31.

BreadTalk chief executive Henry Chu, who took on the role on July 1, said in a statement: "With our experience in operating renowned brands over the last 17 years globally, we hope to deliver the much acclaimed Song Fa Bak Kut Teh dining experience to new customers overseas."