Asrapport Dining Signs Franchise Agreement with Taco Bell Corp. for Restaurant Openings in Japan

Asrapport Dining Co., Ltd (JASDAQ:3069) announced today that it has signed a franchise agreement with Taco Bell Corp. for restaurant openings in Japan.

Asrapport Dining is a publicly traded holding company which operates a food service franchise business with 429 restaurants throughout Japan including Japanese style “Izakaya” pub and barbecue restaurants. In signing this agreement, Asrapport Dining will become a franchisee of one of the largest global quick service restaurant (QSR) brands to operate “Taco Bell” restaurants in Japan.

“Our main business realm is dinner time pub style restaurants. We seek to increase the competitive strength of our portfolio and grow the number of our restaurants that frequented by customers throughout the entire day,” said Shusaku Higaki, Asrapport Dining CEO. “We believe that 'Taco Bell' holds strong growth potential and will enable us to create a new QSR category by cultivating the strong latent demand for Mexican inspired foods within Japan.”

Taco Bell Corp., a member of the Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), currently operates more than 6,000 restaurants globally, and seeks to increase its restaurant numbers by 2,000 and 1,300 inside and outside of the United States by 2022 and 2023 respectively. They will cultivate market opportunities outside the U.S. to create a new growth model for Taco Bell and to fortify its global presence. Their global expansion strategy is focused upon Europe (UK, Poland), Asia (Korea, Japan and Thailand), Latin America (Chile, Peru) and India.

“We look forward to growing Taco Bell, which is one of the largest QSR chains in U.S. and globally, as part of their global expansion strategy. Furthermore, this development is an integral part of our own growth strategy,” said Higaki.

About Asrapport Dining Co., Ltd
Asrapport Dining Co., Ltd. (JASDAQ:3069) is a publicly traded holding company which operates a food service franchise business with 429 restaurants throughout Japan. In addition to achieving growth in the restaurant business through strategic brand portfolio fortification, Asrapport Dining has also established a goal of “building a food value chain” and entered the food manufacturing business to create a business model with multiple profit centers.

About Taco Bell Corp.
Taco Bell Corp., a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), is the nation's leading Mexican-inspired QSR. Taco Bell serves “made to order” and customizable tacos, burritos, and specialties such as the exclusive Doritos® Locos Tacos, gourmet inspired Cantina Power Menu and lower calorie Fresco Menu. Taco Bell and its more than 350 franchise organizations operate nearly 6,000 restaurants across the United States that proudly serve more than 36 million customers every week.

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About YUM! Brands, Inc
Yum! Brands, Inc., (NYSE: YUM), based in Louisville, Kentucky, has over 40,000 restaurants in more than 125 countries and territories. Yum! is ranked #216 on the Fortune 500 List with revenues of over $13 billion and in 2014 was named among the top 100 Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility Magazine. The Company's restaurant brands - KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell - are the global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-inspired food categories. Outside the United States, the Yum! Brands system opens over five new restaurants per day on average, making it a leader in international retail development.