After months of speculation, Nestlé has confirmed the sale of specialty roaster and retailer Blue Bottle Coffee to Centurium Capital, the majority stakeholder of China’s largest coffee chain, Luckin Coffee. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal marks a significant achievement in Nestlé’s strategic portfolio overhaul, which has seen the Swiss conglomerate divest from its North American bottled water business and put its premium imported water portfolio on the auction block.
Nestlé reportedly paid up $425 million for a controlling stake in Blue Bottle in 2017. The brand platform includes a range of ready-to-drink beverages, as well as around 140 retail locations worldwide.
The transaction boosts Centurium’s North American presence less than a year after the soft opening of Luckin Coffee’s first two pick-up stores in the U.S. in New York City.