--- title: "Starbucks China Sale: A Coffee Giant Enters the Countdown to 'Selling Out'" description: "On the morning of September 11, the latest development in the sale of Starbucks' China business emerged: the coffee giant has selected Boyu Capital, Carlyle Group, EQT, and Sequoia China as the final candidates, currently in the final round of negotiations, with the deal expected to be finalized by the end of October. This news brings the nearly year-long equity sale rumors into a substantive phase and serves as the latest footnote to international coffee brands' strategic adjustments in China." author: "New Distribution" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2025-09-11" categories: "Capital, Earnings & M&A, Consumer & Categories" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/starbucks-china-sale-a-coffee-giant-enters-the-countdown-to-selling-out-410b579f/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/starbucks-china-sale-a-coffee-giant-enters-the-countdown-to-selling-out-410b579f.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EFcC9yRIESB-6RTnoWIWhQ" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E6%98%9F%E5%B7%B4%E5%85%8B%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E5%87%BA%E5%94%AE-%E4%B8%80%E4%BB%A3%E5%92%96%E5%95%A1%E5%B7%A8%E5%A4%B4-%E8%BF%9B%E5%85%A5-%E5%8D%96%E8%BA%AB-%E5%80%92%E8%AE%A1%E6%97%B6-410b579f.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/starbucks-china-sale-a-coffee-giant-enters-the-countdown-to-selling-out-410b579f/" citation: "New Distribution. “Starbucks China Sale: A Coffee Giant Enters the Countdown to 'Selling Out'.” New Distribution, 2025-09-11. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/starbucks-china-sale-a-coffee-giant-enters-the-countdown-to-selling-out-410b579f/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # Starbucks China Sale: A Coffee Giant Enters the Countdown to 'Selling Out' > On the morning of September 11, the latest development in the sale of Starbucks' China business emerged: the coffee giant has selected Boyu Capital, Carlyle Group, EQT, and Sequoia China as the final candidates, currently in the final round of negotiations, with the deal expected to be finalized by the end of October. This news brings the nearly year-long equity sale rumors into a substantive phase and serves as the latest footnote to international coffee brands' strategic adjustments in China. On the morning of September 11, the latest development in the sale of Starbucks' China business emerged: the coffee giant has selected Boyu Capital, Carlyle Group, EQT, and Sequoia China as the final candidates, currently in the final round of negotiations, with the deal expected to be finalized by the end of October. This news brings the nearly year-long equity sale rumors into a substantive phase and serves as the latest footnote to international coffee brands' strategic adjustments in China. Equity Sale: Strategic Capital Introduction, Not Exit As early as November 2024, Starbucks globally first signaled the sale of its China business. During the fiscal 2025 third-quarter (April to June 2025) earnings call, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol confirmed the equity sale news. He publicly stated that the Chinese market has enormous future growth potential, and the company is evaluating more than 20 strategic institutions with strong willingness to cooperate, while clearly signaling a desire to retain a significant stake in the China business. According to media reports, Starbucks may retain a 30% stake in the China business, with the remaining 70% divided among multiple buyers, each holding no more than 30%. This indicates that Starbucks is not looking to exit the Chinese market but rather to find a strong partner. Initially, the sale attracted interest from many prominent institutions, including Hillhouse, Bain, KKR, Tencent, China Resources, and Meituan, all rumored as potential buyers. After multiple rounds of bidding, the final list was determined following a round that ended on August 27. Regarding valuation, market rumors show some divergence. In early July, foreign media reported that Starbucks China was valued at up to $10 billion, while later reports suggested that most bidding acquirers had submitted offers of up to $5 billion. Each of these potential buyers is well-known. This shows that Starbucks' China business remains a hot commodity. So why is Starbucks selling its China business? Strategic Pivot Under Performance Pressure In 1999, Starbucks entered the Chinese market. As the once undisputed 'coffee enlightener,' it not only defined the concept of the 'third place' but also directly set the early price anchor for freshly made coffee in China. However, the halo of this 'pioneer' is rapidly fading. According to industry data, Starbucks' share of China's freshly made coffee market has plummeted from 42% in 2017 to 14% in 2024. In terms of performance, Starbucks China's same-store sales have suffered 'four consecutive declines,' mired in the dual pressures of lower average transaction prices and reduced store visit frequency. In the first three quarters of fiscal 2025, Starbucks' international operating profit fell 4.7% year-over-year. To reverse the situation, Starbucks took aggressive measures in 2025. In June, the brand proactively lowered prices on 10 non-coffee beverages for the first time, with the large Iced Shaken Red Berry Blackcurrant dropping from 31 yuan to 26 yuan, and the White Peach Frappuccino from 41 yuan to 35 yuan, an average reduction of 5 yuan, breaking its 25-year pricing strategy. Even so, its prices remain more than double those of mainstream local brands like Luckin and Cotti. The strong rise of local brands has intensified market competition. Luckin Coffee's 2024 revenue reached 34.475 billion yuan, with Q1 2025 revenue up 41.2% year-over-year; Cotti Coffee, through ultra-low pricing on e-commerce platforms, achieved rapid order growth. The '9.9 yuan price band' formed by these two continues to impact the mid-to-high-end market, forcing international brands like Starbucks to reassess their market strategies. Deep Restructuring of China's Coffee Market Landscape Starbucks' performance pressure and strategic adjustments are set against the deep restructuring of China's freshly made beverage market. Data shows that in 2025, the freshly made tea beverage market is expected to reach 368.9 billion yuan, over 100 billion yuan higher than freshly ground coffee, with the boundary between coffee and tea beverages increasingly blurred. Consumption is showing a 'dumbbell-shaped' divergence: the 5-10 yuan low-price band and the 20 yuan-plus high-end band are both growing, while the 15-20 yuan mid-range market continues to shrink, forcing brands to either go downmarket or upgrade. In terms of market focus, the freshly made coffee market in first-tier cities is nearing saturation, with third- and fourth-tier towns becoming the new growth engine. Mixue Bingcheng's 40,000 stores and Lucky Cup's 1,800 stores confirm the potential of the lower-tier market. Although Starbucks is also pushing channel expansion downward—as of the end of fiscal Q3 2025, its total store count in China reached 7,828, covering over 1,000 county-level markets—the cost constraints of its 'third place' store model mean its downmarket speed and cost control are far inferior to local brands. More critically, the proportion of delivery orders continues to rise (2022 data shows Starbucks' mobile orders already accounted for 47%), and its core 'third place' advantage is steadily weakening. From a competitive focus perspective, supply chain and digital capabilities have become key to brand breakthroughs. Luckin has invested in automated roasting bases to reduce costs, while Mixue has built a nationwide cold chain network to ensure supply chain efficiency. Starbucks, however, started late in both areas: although it has joined JD Delivery and opened Douyin livestreams to address digital shortcomings, its private domain traffic operations and order efficiency optimization still lag behind local brands—currently, leading industry brands see over 60% of orders from private domain traffic, while Starbucks has not publicly disclosed similar data, leaving its digital transformation results to be seen. --- ## Citation metadata - Publisher: New Distribution - Author: New Distribution - Published: 2025-09-11 - Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/starbucks-china-sale-a-coffee-giant-enters-the-countdown-to-selling-out-410b579f/ - Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/EFcC9yRIESB-6RTnoWIWhQ ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL. 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