Luckin Coffee's backer to acquire Blue Bottle Coffee for over S$510 million

Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee's backer is in the advanced stages of the acquisition process for Nestlé's Blue Bottle Coffee, reported Nikkei Asia.

A person familiar with the matter told Nikkei Asia that Centurium Capital Management, Luckin's controlling shareholder, has agreed to the US$400 million (S$510 million) deal but has yet to formally close it.

The person added that there are no plans to merge the two brands and that they will operate independently.

Blue Bottle Coffee

Founded in California, U.S., in 2002 by musician James Freeman, it was later acquired in 2017 by Nestlé for US$425 million (S$542 million) for a 68 per cent stake.

The beverage chain entered China through Shanghai in 2020, pricing itself higher than Starbucks and currently has less than 20 stores.

The chain counts more than 100 stores to its name, but in China, the brand remains loss-making, reported Nikkei Asia.

Blue Bottle Coffee currently operates two stores in Singapore, located at the Lumine Raffles City and Paragon, both of which opened in 2025.

Luckin Coffee

Meanwhile, Luckin Coffee is now China's biggest coffee chain and recorded a total revenue of 49.3 billion yuan (S$9.1 billion) in the fiscal year ending December 2025, a 43 per cent jump from the last.

Shop counts for Luckin Coffee also rose 39 per cent, with a total of 31,048 stores worldwide, 20,234 being self-operated and 10,814 being partnerships.

Luckin Coffee's first overseas outlet outside of China was in Singapore, and the brand has opened 81 stores islandwide since.

The company also reported a 31 per cent year-on-year increase in average monthly transacting customers to 94.2 million.

Their business model operates on a high-volume, low-margin system fuelled by mobile orders.

Top photo from Nicholas Lim/Google Maps and Aloysius L/Google Maps