The joint venture that runs the Chinese locations of Canadian coffee and doughnut chain Tim Hortons is planning to go public through a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Silver Crest Acquisition Corp.
A transaction could value the combined entity at $1.8 billion U.S. and an announcement could come as early as this week.
Silver Crest Acquisition is a U.S.-listed SPAC backed by China-focused private equity firm Ascendent Capital Partners. Shares of Silver Crest Acquisition rose 3.7% in pre-market trading in New York on the news.
Co-founded by hockey player Tim Horton, who opened the first Tim’s store in 1964, the coffee chain spread across Canada and became a national symbol, though it remained little-known abroad.
An $11 billion U.S. takeover in 2014 saw Tim Hortons absorbed into conglomerate Restaurant Brands International along with Burger King and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.
Today there are more than 4,900 restaurants globally under the Tim Hortons brand.
Tim Hortons China, a joint venture between private equity firm Cartesian Capital Group and a subsidiary of Restaurant Brands International (TSX:QSR), opened its first outlet in the country of 1.4 billion people in 2019, and now has more than 150 stores across 10 cities in the country.
Tim Hortons aims to expand to more than 1,500 Chinese outlets in coming years.
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