Starbucks acquires local coffee company
By Zheng Lifei (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-10-25 11:17
Starbucks, the world's biggest coffee chain operator, bought Beijing Mei Da
Coffee Co yesterday, its authorized developer in North China, as it steps up its
expansion in the country.
A Starbucks employee
pours coffee beans into a grinder at the Seattle-based company's first
retail coffee store in Beijing in this Jan. 11, 1999 file photo. Starbucks
Corp. said Tuesday it has expanded direct control of its operations in
China by buying a Hong Kong company that has operated more than 60 of its
coffee houses.[AP Photo] |
The Seattle-based coffee chain yesterday acquired High Grown Investment Group
(Hong Kong), the majority shareholder of Beijing Mei Da, from H&Q Asia
Pacific, a private equity firm.
Beijing Mei Da currently operates more than 60 Starbucks retail outlets in
Beijing and the nearby port city of Tianjin.
Both sides declined to reveal the financial terms of the deal.
The latest acquisition, which gives Starbucks a 90 per cent controlling stake
in Beijing Mei Da, will help the coffee company "achieve greater operational
efficiencies and accelerate our expansion in China," said Wang Jinlong,
president of Starbucks Greater China, yesterday.
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