Starbucks Sells 60% Stake in China Unit to Boyu for $4 Billion

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(Bloomberg) — Starbucks Corp. agreed to sell a majority stake in its China business to private equity firm Boyu Capital for $4 billion in a bid to improve the coffee chain’s fortunes in the country. 

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Boyu Capital will hold up to a 60% interest in Starbucks’ retail operations in China through a new joint venture with the coffee seller, the companies said in a statement. Starbucks will hold the remaining 40% interest and will continue to license the brand and intellectual property to the joint venture.

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The agreement marks the end of a search for a partner to help chart Starbucks’ next chapter in China, where it has about 8,000 stores after opening its first outlet in Beijing in 1999. However, Starbucks has struggled in recent years, along with other Western companies that have lost ground to local rivals amid rising nationalism and reluctance to pay premiums for foreign brands. 

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Xiamen-based Luckin Coffee Inc. dethroned Starbucks as China’s biggest coffee chain two years ago by selling coffee at one-third of its price. And while Starbuck’s store format is expensive to upkeep, customers have become less willing to pay higher prices for its drinks since the Covid pandemic and ongoing economic downturn.

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Bloomberg previously reported that Boyu had emerged as the front-runner, and that Starbucks was evaluating five bids from potential suitors.

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Founded in 2011 and based in the Cayman Islands, Boyu invests in private equity, public equities, real estate and infrastructure, according to its website. It also has a venture capital and renewable energy platform. Its private equity business invests in areas such as technology, consumer and retail and health care.

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“We see a path to grow from today’s 8,000 Starbucks coffeehouses to more than 20,000 over time,” Starbucks Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol said in a blog post. 

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Comparable store sales in China rose 2% in the fourth quarter, helping the company post positive same-store sales growth for the first time in more than a year.  

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Starbucks expects the total value of its China retail business to exceed $13 billion, including the value of licenses, according to the statement.

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The coffee seller’s shares rose less than 1% at 6:17 p.m. in after-hours trading in New York. The stock has declined about 11% this year, trailing a nearly 17% advance by the S&P 500 Index.

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As part of its efforts to lure back customers in China, Starbucks earlier this year opened free “study rooms” in some of its stores there. Under new China chief Molly Liu, the chain has also expanded its drinks menu to include more sugar-free options and teas catering to local tastes, slashed prices on a slew of beverages and upped its options for customizing orders. That’s in contrast to recent moves in the US, where the menu has been simplified to boost operational efficiency. 

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(Adds background on Starbucks’ China business throughout.)

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