Starbucks has agreed to sell a majority stake in its China business to private equity group Boyu Capital to form a joint venture valued at $4 billion, as it aims to more than double its number of cafés in the country, reports the Financial Times. The coffee shop chain on Monday said Hong Kong-based Boyu would hold an up to 60% interest in its 8,000 stores in China, while Starbucks would have a 40% stake and continue to own the Starbucks brand. The US company would license the brand and intellectual property to the new joint venture, it said.
Starbucks has for months been sounding out investors to sell a stake in the China business, its second-largest after the US with $3 billion in net revenue during fiscal year 2024.
After arriving in mainland China in 1999, Starbucks’s rapid expansion helped introduce coffee culture to the country.