What is the purpose of Starbucks spending 1.3 billion US dollars to buy back the management right in Shanghai?

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"the integration of Starbucks' operations in China will enhance our investment in this market," Kevin Johnson, president and chief executive of Starbucks, said in a public statement after spending $1.3 billion to buy back the operation of Starbucks in Shanghai from Taiwan's Unification Corporation.

But this is only an official statement.

Judging from past experience, Uni-President is not the first company to recover its management rights by Starbucks in the United States, and this transaction is just a habitual move in the way Starbucks operates in the United States.

Starbucks was founded in 1971 and began to operate internationally around the 1990s. Their business model is flexible and flexible, usually based on the proportion of shares held by American headquarters in Starbucks. It mainly includes four modes: sole proprietorship, joint venture, license and authorization.

1. Sole proprietorship: Starbucks owns 100% stake, such as Japan, UK, Thailand and Australia.

two。 Joint venture: Starbucks has a 50% stake, such as Shanghai before the deal

3. License agreement: Starbucks has only a minority stake, usually 5%, such as the initial investment in Taiwan

4. Authorized operation: Starbucks does not own shares, but is purely authorized to operate, such as the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

In March 1998, Starbucks opened its first store in Taiwan, in which Starbucks of the United States, Uni-President and Uni-President held 5%, 50% and 45% of the shares respectively. In May 2000, Uni-President and Uni-President acquired the right to operate in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions of China in a joint venture mode and established "Shanghai Unified Starbucks".

At that time, Starbucks had three partners in China: Beijing Meida Coffee represented Starbucks in northern China; Unification Group represented Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou; and Hong Kong and Shenzhen were represented by Hong Kong Meixin Group.

However, once Starbucks is bullish on a regional market, it will invest more, increase its stake to 50%, or even buy it back. In 2015, for example, Starbucks took back its Japanese agency for about $913 million, including a 39.5% stake in its then partner Sazaby League, and became sole proprietorship.

In the expanding market of China, Starbucks of the United States took back the operation right of Beijing Meida Group in 2006; in 2011, Starbucks bought back shares in Starbucks in Guangdong, Hainan, Sichuan, Shaanxi and other regions of China from Hong Kong Meixin Group, but sold Starbucks shares in Hong Kong and Macao to Hong Kong Meixin, allowing them to own 100% of the operation.

Today, Starbucks in the United States is also following the "Hong Kong model" to buy back a stake in Starbucks in Shanghai from Unification Group.

However, the $1.3 billion acquisition is the largest deal in Starbucks' history and has sparked a variety of discussions. The most common view is that Starbucks in the United States is convinced that the Chinese market will be the main performance momentum of Starbucks in the next few years, so it withdraws its management rights and invests all its resources.

It is generally believed that China's growing middle class and urbanization will bring a large number of potential coffee consumers to Starbucks. Jennifer Bartashus, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, a Bloomberg think-tank, said Starbucks would enter new markets in a joint venture with local companies, taking the time to learn about the local market and eventually bring it under its own ownership. "given Starbucks' high expectations for China, it's really not surprising that they will want to control the local market as much as possible," he said.

Starbucks in the United States plans to expand its stores in China from the current 2800 to 5000 by 2021. From Beijing, Hong Kong to Shanghai, Starbucks has gradually integrated the Chinese market, which shows their expectations for the Chinese market. However, although China is Starbucks' fastest-growing market outside the United States, its future operating results are still unknown. In the future, let's wait and see whether Starbucks is making the right move.

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