Now, this is big news!

I just learned now that Jollibee Foods Corporation (JFC) bought 70% of Mang Inasal business. I must say it was a surprising but an intelligent move for JFC's part. I have been observing some games in franchising and this is definitely one exciting news. That's why I have to write about this.

<hr />Mang Inasal has undoubtedly made a history as the Philippines' fastest growing food chain. We are talking of only six years of building more than 300 stores nationwide. I think this is obviously faster than Jollibee phenomenon. The only question now why Injap has sold it for approximately 2.5 billion pesos.

[caption id="attachment_3127" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Mang Inasal owner Injap Sia and motivational speaker Lloyd Luna"]<a href="http://www.lloydluna.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/62889_10150272166300545_501440544_14702674_4691782_n.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3127" title="Mang Inasal owner Injap Sia and motivational speaker Lloyd Luna" src="http://www.lloydluna.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/62889_10150272166300545_501440544_14702674_4691782_n-300x225.jpg" alt="Mang Inasal owner Injap Sia and motivational speaker Lloyd Luna" width="300" height="225" /></a>[/caption]

I'm not sure what's inside Injap's mind let alone the wisdom of selling 70% of its share to JFC. Injap is only 32 years old. He's very young and dynamic and there's no doubt about his capacity to change the way competition is done. I personally think that he's been able to shake the industry by his leadership and marketing strategies.

Thinking about it, Mang Inasal is a direct threat to Jollibee's chicken business. I bet I'm not the only person who can feel it. I even suspect that Jollibee's Chicken Barbeque may be inspired by Mang Inasal grilled chicken. Nonetheless, I think Jollibee was trying to use it's number advantage to somehow get a share of the grilled food market.

But I do know that there's a wisdom in Injap's decision to sell. I can't wait to have him as my guest on Creative Business with Lloyd Luna, my television program on Global News Network (GNN Channel 21 every Friday, 1030AM). I think that's the first question that I'm going to ask.

Here are some of the questions that I'd like to know. These are my other suspicions, too, why Injap has sold the majority share.
<ul>
	<li>Does Mang Inasal need some cold cash? If so, for what?</li>
	<li>Does Mang Inasal in a hurry to expand in the international market? (Because JFC can actually make it happen having branches in different parts of the world)</li>
	<li>Does Mang Inasal need the expertise of JFC in terms of management or even the stock market?</li>
</ul>
The answers to this question can shed light to the real issue. I wrote about this because I was surprised and I'm really curious about the news for several reasons.

But I'd like to analyze it this way and give my opinion based on my limited knowledge.

[caption id="attachment_3116" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Jollibee now owns 70% of Mang Inasal"]<a href="http://www.lloydluna.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/mang_inasal1.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-3116" title="Jollibee now owns 70% of Mang Inasal" src="http://www.lloydluna.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/mang_inasal1-300x260.jpg" alt="Jollibee now owns 70% of Mang Inasal" width="300" height="260" /></a>[/caption]

I think Mang Inasal can do it on their own. They have made a history and they can worth more if they waited for another one year or so. My analogy is Facebook. I haven't read the book, The Facebook Effect. It's about the story of Facebook and how its founder MarkZuckerburg has maintained his ownership of the company despite several attempts of America's heavyweight investors to offer him millions of dollars.

Should Mark sold his Facebook or even made his company public, he wouldn't have his worth as big as it is today. Mark still owns majority of the Facebook business. He doesn't have to sell.

Now, I think Mang Inasal has been doing things right. It was able to setup a very good business model and I am impressed by the way they are now. I'm excited to see how far they can go. That's why hearing this "selling" news surprised me and made me write an immediate reaction.

Still, we will have to know the wisdom of Injap's Investment company with regard to the selling of 70% of Mang Inasal's business. Time will tell if this decision would have been better had Injap waited for some more time.