(March 4): Centurium Capital Partners is in advanced talks to acquire Nestle SA’s Blue Bottle Coffee, according to people familiar with the situation.
The buyout firm, which helped turn around Chinese market leader Luckin Coffee Inc, is putting the final touches on a deal for the coffee roaster and retailer, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.
While an agreement might be reached soon, there’s no guarantee yet, the people said. Centurium didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Nestle declined to comment.
Centurium and Luckin have been assessing various coffee-chain targets including Blue Bottle, Costa Coffee and the operator of % Arabica stores in China, people familiar with the deliberations have said.
Founded in Oakland, California in 2002, Blue Bottle has outlets in the US, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Nestle invested in 2017, paying about US$425 million ($542.9 million) for a 68% stake. Luckin was established nine years ago and has expanded rapidly — despite an accounting scandal and US delisting in 2020 — to become the biggest coffee chain in China with about 31,000 stores.
Luckin’s American depositary receipts have risen about 16% over the past 12 months, giving the company a market value of about US$9.5 billion.
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