BEIJING — Starbucks Corporation announced that it has acquired from H&Q Asia Pacific and other shareholders equity ownership of High Grown Investment Group (Hong Kong) Limited, which in turn is the controlling shareholder of Beijing Mei Da Coffee Co. Ltd. ("Beijing Mei Da Coffee"), the operator of 60 Starbucks retail stores in Beijing and Tianjin, People's Republic of China, and an authorized licensee of Starbucks Coffee International.
The financial terms of this transaction were not disclosed. Beijing Sanyuan Company continues to be a minority shareholder of Mei Da.
"We are very excited about the significant increase of equity ownership in these markets, which we believe demonstrates our commitment to China, and which we believe will permit us to achieve greater operational efficiencies, accelerate our expansion in China, and contribute to the leisure environment within Beijing and Tianjin," said Jinlong Wang, president of Starbucks Greater China.
Wang said this transaction allows Starbucks to be more integrated into the communities by building on the strong human connections that Beijing Mei Da Coffee helped "us establish in this market with our local partners (employees) and customers. We are now poised to expand rapidly in this important region two years before the 2008 Beijing Olympics."
