Starbucks is transitioning its retail business in South Korea to E-Mart and GIC
Starbucks Corp confirmed it will exit direct ownership of its stores in South Korea, the coffee giant’s fifth-largest market.
Starbucks will sell the 50% stake it owns in a joint venture to local partner E-Mart and Singapore’s GIC.
E-Mart has been Starbucks’s joint venture partner in South Korea since 1999.. when the brand opened its first store in Seoul.
E-Mart, which currently owns 50 percent of Starbucks Coffee Korea, said it would acquire an additional 17.5 percent stake that would be worth 474 billion won.
GIC is set to take ownership of the remaining 32.5 percent in the coffee chain.
