Food Planet Inc. (TOKYO:7853) (FP), an international food and beverage holding company, has decided to issue new share warrants to Japan Opportunities Master Fund on June 28, 2016 to expand and strengthen the food business through M&A. This equity financing is estimated to raise a total of 2.8 billion JPY.

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Food Planet commits to grow its business by obtaining and expanding iconic global brands. (Photo: Bu ...

Food Planet commits to grow its business by obtaining and expanding iconic global brands. (Photo: Business Wire)

Expand and Strengthen the Global Food Brands

FP will acquire four international food brands from Red Planet Japan, as well as Q’s Dining, the Hokkaido-based restaurant group, and will expand and strengthen the food business operation in Japan and overseas.

FP currently operates “Magnolia Bakery (Japan, Korea, Hawaii),” the iconic NYC brand famous for its cupcakes, “Kyochon (Japan),” Korea’s largest fried chicken brand, “Iron Fairies (Japan),” the sensuous cocktail bar from Bangkok, “Nitrogenie (Hawaii),” the Australian brand famous for “making ice cream from magic” with liquid nitrogen, and 17 themed restaurants in Hokkaido run by our subsidiary “Q’s Dining”. These brands have strong brand concept and products, which Food Planet will strengthen and grow through expansion based on profitable store models.

A key strength of Food Planet will be our ownership of regional brand rights for “Magnolia Bakery”, “Kyochon” and “Nitrogenie”. In addition to successfully operating these brands in Japan and Hawaii, FP has also had great success in the operation of several Magnolia Bakery stores in South Korea with its JV partner, Hyundai Green Food Co., Ltd. FP will continue to expand its brands throughout the Asia Pacific region, where the food and beverage market is growing rapidly now and in the future.

New Food Business through M&A

FP is in negotiations to acquire the international rights to a well-known brand, which has more than 20 franchised locations in more than 10 countries. Furthermore, FP continues to evaluate M&A options to obtain brands that fit within our portfolio, including brand ownership opportunities in order to expand our food business globally.

Please see press releases on June 9, June 14, June 28 and June 29, 2016 for further information.

The Concept and Features of the No. 8 Warrants

In order to sustain our growth strategy, we issued warrants to Japan Opportunities Master Fund, and aimed at a fundraising of 2.8 billion yen. This warrant issue has the following features and advantages.

1. Certain Upfront Exercise
The investor has agreed to exercise 10% of the warrants (14,037,380 shares) on the day of the allotment after the warrants have been issued. With this, we are assured to have 280M JPY raised upfront for necessary operating costs.

2. “Soft Call” Option and Exercise Stop Feature
In a situation where our company’s stock is continuously rising, we anticipate the exercise of warrants can be facilitated using the soft call mechanism featured in this transaction. And with the ability to set exercise stop periods, we are able to control the number of new shares issued.

Please refer to our website for more information “Expansion and Promotion of Food Business”, and also timely disclosure dated June 28 on warrant issue, dated June 9, June 14, and June 29 on subsidiary transfer from Red Planet Japan, Inc. for further information*.
*Timely disclosure is only available in Japanese.

About Food Planet Inc.

Food Planet Inc. (TOKYO:7853) operates famous food restaurants in Asian countries such as Magnolia Bakery (Tokyo, Korea, Hawaii), Kyochon (Tokyo), Iron Fairies (Tokyo), Q's Dining (Hokkaido), and Nitrogenie (Hawaii). Food Planet has licenses to expand the brands not only in Japan, but also in Asia-Pacific region. The company is listed on the Second Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange. (7853)