Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has been shortlisted to buy a stake in Alshaya Group's Starbucks franchise across the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, according to sources.
Starbucks operates in 14 countries across the Middle East, Russia, and Central Asia, with over a thousand locations. Alshaya Group, the region's largest brand franchise owner, approached JPMorgan last year to sell a significant minority position in the company, potentially up to 30% of the stock, netting $4b to $5b.
Many private equity firms are also in the race, including CVC Capital Partners and Brookfield Asset Management. Mubadala Investment Co and ADQ, the Abu Dhabi governmental holding fund, also shared interest for a stake in the company, however, are no longer in the running.
Why it matters
The acquisition would broaden the investor base of the Alshaya family's business, which has been privately held since 1999. Saudi Arabia has experienced a flurry of IPOs in recent years as the country promotes more family-owned businesses to go public as part of reforms aimed at lessening the kingdom's reliance on oil earnings.
