Good morning. Chickenjoy (crispy, juicy fried chicken) and Jolly Spaghetti are signature menu items at Jollibee, a Filipino fast-food chain that has built a growing fan base in the United States. Now, the company is setting its sights on Wall Street.
The restaurant’s parent company, Philippines-based Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC), revealed earlier this month that it plans to spin off its international operations and seek an initial public offering of the business in the United States. Jollibee Global Chief Financial Officer Richard Shin said at a media roundtable on January 14 that the proposed spin-off and listing will take place in late 2027, and “we still have quite a long time to complete the work.”
JFC, which includes restaurant brands such as Smashburger and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, currently trades as a single group on the Philippine Stock Exchange and has operations in 33 countries. Over the past 15 quarters, JFC’s international network has achieved a compound annual growth rate of 26.7%, outpacing the group’s overall expansion rate of 15.1%. Shin said the separation reflects the increasingly distinct strategic positioning of the domestic and international businesses.
March 2025, Jollibee launches Its first U.S. franchise program. In 1998, the brand opened its first North American store in Daly City, California, and as of early 2026, the brand had opened more than 100 stores in the United States and Canada.
Why take the road to IPO in the United States? “I think we can all agree on the fact that U.S. capital markets have deep investor-based experience in valuing global consumer and restaurant growth companies,” Xin said on the call.
Many of these companies are still reaching their potential, but tend to command higher price-to-earnings ratios and valuations, he said. He added that while JFC could not guarantee the outcome, a U.S. listing could provide greater capital depth, liquidity and broader analyst coverage, with any final decision subject to valuation and required approvals.
The U.S. IPO market is heating up again wealthJeff John Roberts wrote in an article New feature article. “While 2026 will almost certainly not compare to 1999, when 476 companies went public, investors should have more options than four years ago, when only 38 companies went public,” he wrote.
Shin also elaborated on the separation of JFC from the perspective of simplifying investors’ evaluation of the company, noting that the group includes businesses at different stages of their life cycles with varying returns and opportunities. He said that as the strategic profiles of the two market segments continue to diverge, different domestic and international entities can provide investors with clearer and more targeted investment options.
He said reasons for seeking a separation include increased transparency, capital allocation discipline, executing on growth strategies and the ability to attract an investor base that is consistent with the risk-reward profile of each business, rather than being judged solely on short-term financial metrics.
“This transaction is in line with the Jollibee Group’s long-term value creation strategy,” Shin said.
Jollibee is looking to Wall Street, betting that global tastes and investor appetite will be on its side.
Cheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Ranking list
Helen Cai Appointed Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer barrick mining corp. (NYSE: B ) effective March 1, longtime financial chief Graham Shuttleworth will leave the company following the company’s year-end results. Cai has served on Barrick’s board of directors since November 2021 and has more than 20 years of experience in equity research, corporate finance, capital markets and M&A for companies in the mining, industrial and technology sectors, primarily Goldman Sachs and China International Capital Corporation.
Meredith Pike Appointed Chief Financial Officer Zekelman Industriesthe largest independent steel pipe manufacturer in North America. Peck succeeds Mike Graham, who will retire on May 15 following a planned transition period. She brings more than 20 years of financial leadership experience to Zekelman Industries, most recently as chief financial officer of COTSWORKS, Inc., where she previously served as controller and then vice president of finance and administration. Earlier in her career, Peck held senior leadership roles at KeyBank and began her public accounting career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is also a former U.S. Coast Guard officer.
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exist a blog post On Sunday, OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar provided an update on the tech giant, including its revenue. Annual recurring revenue reaches $2 billion in 2023; will grow to $6 billion in 2024 and jump to more than $20 billion in 2025.
This revenue growth is closely tied to the expansion of computing power. OpenAI’s computing power will rise from 0.2 gigawatts (GW) in 2023 to 0.6 GW in 2024 and about 1.9 GW in 2025.
Friar wrote: “Compute is the scarcest resource in AI. Three years ago, we were dependent on a single compute provider. Today, we are working with providers in a diverse ecosystem. This shift gives us resiliency and, more importantly, computational certainty.”
in a Attached LinkedIn postFriar said that from a financial perspective, the demand is real and growing at an unprecedented rate, and customers are paying in proportion to the value delivered. She added that capital is being deployed intentionally on the constraints that really matter, especially in computing.
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ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) have released Global Economic Conditions Surveybased on results from the 2025 fourth quarter poll. Members from around the world shared their views on the macroeconomic environment.
The survey results show that CFO confidence has improved but remains below historical averages, with key indicators suggesting their companies need to proceed with caution. Accountants ranked economic stress, cyber disruption and geopolitical uncertainty as top risks, emphasizing that risks are increasingly complex and interconnected.
“Against a highly uncertain global backdrop, accountants remain cautious heading into 2026,” ACCA chief economist Jonathan Ashworth said in a statement. “The global economy is expected to perform better than expected in 2025, and in 2026, driven by recent monetary easing by central banks, rising stock markets, supportive fiscal policy in major countries and the continued boom in global artificial intelligence.” “Year 2 looks set to remain resilient,” however, amid a range of risks, significant uncertainty remains, “particularly on the geopolitical front, which is more heavily tilted to the downside,” he said.
overheard
“We are entering an IPO ‘mega cycle,’ which we expect will be defined by unprecedented deal volumes and IPO sizes.”
—Kim Posnett, global co-head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs, said recently Tell wealth. Posnett discusses how she sees the current business environment and the most important developments in 2026 in terms of artificial intelligence, the IPO market, and M&A activity. Posnet named one of Fortune’s leaders most powerful women List, is one of the bank’s top dealmakers and also serves as vice chair of the firmwide Client Franchise Committee and a member of the Management Committee.