Uni-President Enterprises Corp (UPE, 統一企業) and President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商) yesterday announced a major shift in their partnership with Starbucks Corp on operating the US brand in Taiwan and China.
UPE and PCSC are to sell their respective 20 percent and 30 percent stakes in President Starbucks Coffee Shanghai Corp (上海統一星巴克咖啡有限公司) to the US coffee giant for NT$40.11 billion (US$1.33 billion), Alex Lo (羅智先), chairman of both companies, said at a news conference at the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei.
The deal is to be the largest single acquisition by Starbucks, a press release issued by the US company said.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“Starbucks will assume 100 percent ownership of approximately 1,300 Starbucks stores in Shanghai, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, building on the company’s ongoing investments in China, its fastest-growing market outside of the United States in terms of store count,” the release said.
East China is a significant and strategic region for the company, with Shanghai alone accounting for nearly 600 stores, the largest number of stores globally of any city where Starbucks has a presence, the US company said.
The deal would mean that Taiwanese food and retail conglomerate Uni-President Group (統一集團) would effectively relinquish its east China-based Starbucks operations to the Seattle-based coffee giant.
UPE and PCSC are to book a total of NT$33.45 billion in profit from the deal, pending regulatory approval, Lo said.
Meanwhile, the two companies are to purchase from the US firm its 50 percent stake in President Starbucks Coffee Corp (統一星巴克) for NT$5.42 billion, giving the Taiwanese conglomerate complete ownership of the domestic Starbucks franchise.
The deal was motivated by the US company’s plans to consolidate development efforts in China, Lo said, adding that both UPE and PCSC plan to expand their hold on the local market.
“Our partnership with Starbucks remains strong, and both parties are satisfied with the outcome,” Lo said, adding that the deal has been in discussion for a few years.
In the two decades since the beginning of the partnership in 1997, Uni-President Group has turned Starbucks into one of the most popular coffee brands in Taiwan, as well as in Shanghai, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, Lo said, adding that the results speak for themselves.
In Taiwan, the group operates approximately 410 Starbucks stores.
UPE and PCSC requested that trading in their shares be suspended yesterday due to the release of material information.
On Wednesday, PCSC shares surged to a record high NT$290 before closing at NT$288.50.
UPE’s stock price did not see significant movement this week, ending at NT$60.50 on Wednesday.
Both companies’ shares are to resume trading today, separate filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange showed.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last