Universal Beijing Resort and Yum China Announce Strategic Partnership to Create Fun and Innovative Entertainment and Dining Experiences

BEIJING, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Beijing Resort and Yum China Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: YUMC) today announced an eight-year strategic partnership to jointly provide fun and innovative entertainment and dining experiences across China.  

The strategic partnership brings together Universal Beijing Resort, a widely anticipated theme park destination scheduled to open in 2021, and Yum China, the largest restaurant company in China in terms of restaurant numbers and revenue. Through this collaboration, both parties will leverage their respective strengths and deep insights into the changing lifestyles of young and family consumers. This partnership also demonstrates both parties' shared goal to invest in local markets for long term growth.

"As one of the major investors in the Universal Beijing Resort project, Beijing Tourism Group has made unremitting efforts to establish Universal Beijing Resort as a new landmark of Beijing cultural tourism, while actively contributing significant economic and social benefits in Tongzhou and the Jing-Jin-Ji region," said Bai Fan, Deputy Party Secretary, Board Director and General Manager of Beijing Tourism Group (BTG). "Beijing Tourism Group has a long-standing successful partnership with Yum China, and we're very pleased to see our partnership being elevated to a new level today, further enhancing our goal to build a comprehensive service industrial chain in China."

"As part of our aspiration to become an innovative pioneer in the restaurant industry, our partnership with Universal Beijing Resort is expected to bring transformative entertainment and dining experiences to Chinese consumers," said Joey Wat, Chief Executive Officer of Yum China. "We are excited about the potential of combining the power of our iconic brands, unrivalled food innovation capabilities and industry leading digital ecosystem with Universal's globally recognized entertainment expertise and assets to reshape the future of consumer experience."

"This partnership is a perfect example of our shared goal to meet the changing needs of Chinese consumers and market commitment to bring joy to countless families in China. We are honored to have Yum China as a key partner of Universal Beijing Resort, to jointly creating extraordinary and innovative experiences for our guests," said Page Thompson, President and Chief Operating Officer - International, Universal Parks & Resorts.

Under the partnership, both parties will work together to launch a series of online and offline marketing activities, leveraging the brands and concepts applicable to Universal Beijing resort, to provide opportunities for Universal theme park's guests, movie fans and Yum China's large group of customers to enjoy unique Universal-styled experiences. Yum China's special promotions will be conducted across its KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands spanning Yum China's more than 8,000 stores throughout China and geared towards Yum China's 230 million digital members.

"As part of the agreement both parties will work together across a number of areas including IP cooperation, online activations, themed stores and in-store activities," said Johnson Huang, General Manager of KFC China. "Joint membership activities held by both parties will offer consumers added convenience and plenty of fun and exciting experiences, such as exploring the opportunity of enabling Yum China's digital members to purchase resort tickets through our digital platforms. The powerful membership systems of both parties offer a solid foundation to explore more opportunities for future cooperation."

In addition, Yum China will open a new KPRO restaurant at Universal CityWalk Beijing, a retail, dining and entertainment complex inside the Universal Beijing Resort. As a restaurant format developed by KFC China, KPRO is designed to offer a fresh, seasonal menu to a new generation of sophisticated diners, and the Universal CityWalk Beijing KPRO restaurant will include a tailor-made resort menu as well as a unique restaurant design featuring the customized theme of Colonel's Green Kitchen. Universal CityWalk Beijing will feature vibrant retail, dining and entertainment concepts that will perfectly complement the theme park experience. There will be award-winning restaurants, clubs and a movie theater – and plenty of themed retail and shopping.

This latest agreement builds on a strong track record of marketing campaigns between Yum China and Universal Parks & Resorts' IP partners in the China market.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and by the use of forward-looking words such as "expect," "expectation," "believe," "anticipate," "may," "could," "intend," "belief," "plan," "estimate," "target," "predict," "likely," "will," "should," "forecast," "outlook," "look forward to" or similar terminology. These statements are based on current estimates and assumptions made by us in light of our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that we believe are appropriate and reasonable under the circumstances, but there can be no assurance that such estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated by those statements. We cannot assure you that any of our expectations, estimates or assumptions will be achieved. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are only made as of the date of this press release, and we disclaim any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law. All forward-looking statements should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty. You should consult our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the information set forth under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations " in our Annual Report on Form 10-K) for additional detail about factors that could affect our financial and other results.

About Universal Beijing Resort

Universal Beijing Resort is a widely anticipated theme park destination that will feature the Universal Studios Beijing theme park, the Universal CityWalk Beijing retail, dining and entertainment complex and two hotels. The hotels include the Universal Studios Grand Hotel, the first-ever Universal-themed resort hotel, and the first NUO-branded resort hotel from Beijing Tourism Group. The Universal Studios Beijing theme park will feature seven highly themed and immersive lands that include several all-new attractions along with the selected Universal rides, shows and attractions from around the world – plus specially created experiences designed to reflect China's cultural heritage.

Universal Beijing Resort is developed, constructed and operated by Beijing International Resort Co., Ltd., a joint venture that is 70 percent owned by Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Co., Ltd., and 30 percent owned by Universal Parks & Resorts, a business unit of Comcast NBCUniversal.

Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Company, Ltd. (BSH Investment) was founded to support the investment of Universal Beijing Resort. Under the guideline to, "drive the development of an industry and a region with a project," BSH Investment and Universal Parks & Resort will jointly invest Universal Beijing Resort with extraordinary design, technology, creativity and environmental protection.

Universal Parks & Resorts, a unit of Comcast NBCUniversal, offers guests around the globe today's popular entertainment experiences. With three-time Academy Award® winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg as creative consultant, Universal's theme parks are known for immersive experiences featuring highly thrilling and technologically advanced film- and television-based attractions. Guests of all ages enjoy encounters and adventures with some of the very popular characters and well-established brands in entertainment. Comcast NBCUniversal wholly owns Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Japan and has a license agreement with Universal Studios Singapore.

About Yum China Holdings, Inc.

Yum China Holdings, Inc. is a licensee of Yum! Brands in mainland China. It has exclusive rights in mainland China to KFC, China's leading quick-service restaurant brand, Pizza Hut, the leading casual dining restaurant brand in China, and Taco Bell, a California-based restaurant chain serving innovative Mexican-inspired food. Yum China also owns the Little Sheep, East Dawning and COFFii & JOY concepts outright. The Company had more than 8,900 restaurants in over 1,300 cities at the end of September 2019. Yum China ranked # 362 on the Fortune 500 list in 2019. In 2019, Yum China was named to the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index and was certified as a Top Employer 2020 in China by the Top Employers Institute for the second consecutive year. For more information, please visit http://ir.yumchina.com.

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SOURCE Yum China Holdings, Inc.