REUTERS
July 27, 2021 at 12:50 JST
This Oct. 27 file photo shows a sign at a Starbucks Coffee store in south Seattle. (AP Photo)
Starbucks Corp. said on Monday it will exit any direct ownership in South Korea, its fifth-largest market, selling the 50 percent stake it owns in a joint venture to local partner E-Mart Inc. and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC.
E-Mart, which currently owns 50 percent of Starbucks Coffee Korea, said it would acquire an additional 17.5 percent stake that would be worth 474 billion won ($411.89 million).
That also suggests a $2.35 billion valuation for Starbucks Coffee Korea, Reuters calculations showed.
GIC will own the remaining 32.5 percent of the venture, Starbucks said.
The U.S. coffee chain operates more than 1,500 stores across 78 cities in South Korea, where 2020 revenue rose 3.2 percent to 1.93 trillion won despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As a long-term investor, GIC is confident that Starbucks Coffee Korea will play an important role in setting retail coffee trends and further driving industry growth,” said Choo Yong Cheen, GIC’s chief investment officer of private equity.
Starbucks said the deal is expected to be completed over the next 90 days.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
