Singapore listed restaurant business Jumbo Group has signed a JV agreement with Kang Wang Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tsui Wah Holdings, to take the Hong Kong-style Cha Chaan Teng under the Tsui Wah brand into Singapore.

It will be a 49:51 JV between a Jumbo subsidiary and Kang Wang. It has also entered into a franchise agreement with Tsui Wah International Patent, which will give the JVC the right to use the Tsui Wah trademarks and trade names in Singapore.

The Tsui Wah Group has about 70 outlets in Hong Kong, Macau and China, and this will be it first entry into the South-east Asian consumer market.

Jumbo says it will fund its share of investment of S$244,998 (US$186,400) in the JVC using internal resources. The agreement covers an initial 10 years.

Founded in the Mongkok neighbourhood in 1967, the brand is known for its fishball noodles, bottled Hong Kong milk tea and crispy bread drizzled with condensed milk. At the end of January, it had 32 outlets in Hong Kong, 35 in China and three in Macau. Despite a dip in revenue, the group managed to grow its first-half profit, according to its interim results.

“This is part of our strategy to grow our network of restaurants, and to further strengthen our foothold in Singapore,” says Jumbo group chief executive/executive director Ang Kiam Meng.

The location of the first outlet has yet to be revealed.