EQT Invests In The Franchise Operator Of Dairy Queen And Papa John’s Pizza In China

EQT, a leading private equity group in Northern Europe, has acquired a majority stake in China F&B Group, to accelerate the latter’s expansion plans. China F&B, founded in 2003, has more than 500 foodservice outlets in China and is the largest franchisee of both the Dairy Queen and Papa John’s Pizza brands outside the United States. China Dairy Queen is the largest ice cream restaurant chain in China, and Papa John’s Pizza is the second largest pizza chain there.

“Both the out-of-home ice cream market and pizza restaurant industry in China have grown rapidly in recent years. This has been driven primarily by an accelerated urbanization, the development of lower tier cities and increases in disposable income,” said EQT’s Yuka Yeung, a board member of China F&B.

L.I. Ping, chairman of China F&B, will continue in that role. “Given the strong track record of EQT in developing chain stores and its credibility as a control investor in China, I strongly believe that China F&B has found the right partner to accelerate our expansion plan in China.”