Centurium Capital acquires Blue Bottle Coffee, which is still in the red | Exclusive

Author | Zhong Yixuan   Peng Qian

Editor | Qiao Qian

36Kr has learned that Centurium Capital has reached an agreement with Nestle to acquire the global stores of Blue Bottle Coffee from Nestle for less than $400 million. After the transaction is completed, Nestle will still retain Blue Bottle's fast-moving consumer goods business, such as coffee beans, instant coffee, and ready-to-drink beverages.

It is worth noting that Blue Bottle Coffee is still operating at a loss. 36Kr has exclusively learned that as of June 30, 2025, Blue Bottle Coffee's revenue in the past 12 months was approximately $250 million, with the United States contributing about $150 million and the Asia-Pacific region contributing about $100 million. The source also told 36Kr that Blue Bottle Coffee is expected to turn a profit in 2026.

Centurium Capital did not respond to this.

According to a coffee industry insider, Luckin is actively recruiting "brand-oriented" candidates in the market to prepare for the integration of Blue Bottle Coffee. "To sell a cup of coffee for over $40, the brand is of utmost importance," the insider said.

Blue Bottle Coffee was founded in California, the United States in 2002 and opened its first store in San Francisco in 2005. The brand is positioned as a high-end specialty coffee, and fresh roasting is one of its greatest features. Founder James Freeman once proposed that Blue Bottle Coffee stores only use coffee roasted within 48 hours. Currently, Blue Bottle Coffee has its own global procurement channels and roasting standards.

In 2017, Nestle acquired a 68% stake in Blue Bottle for less than $500 million. This move was to explore high-priced product categories and seek new growth opportunities for Nestle.

As of the end of 2025, Blue Bottle Coffee had a total of 140 stores globally, with 31 located in Asia. Compared with Japan and South Korea, Blue Bottle entered the Chinese market relatively late.

Five years after being acquired by Nestle, Blue Bottle Coffee entered China for the first time in 2022, with its first store located on the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai. As of the end of 2025, Blue Bottle Coffee had 15 stores in the Chinese mainland, located in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou. The Hangzhou store opened on November 14. Karl Strovink, the global CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee, once revealed that the headquarters regards China as an important and continuously growing market.

These three years have also been the period of the fastest expansion for Chinese chain coffee brands. Even Peet's, which is also positioned as a specialty coffee brand, began large-scale expansion during this period. The peak of Peet's expansion was from 2022 to 2024, with nearly 200 new stores added in three years. As of 2021, Peet's had only about 70 stores in China. In contrast, Blue Bottle Coffee's expansion pace has been relatively slow.

Acquiring Blue Bottle has both financial value and strategic significance for Centurium Capital.

As of now, Centurium Capital holds a total of 23.28% of the shares in Luckin Coffee, with 53.6% of the voting rights, making it the absolute controlling shareholder. Li Hui, the founder of Centurium Capital, became the chairman of Luckin Coffee in April 2025 and is deeply involved in Luckin's strategic planning and daily operations. At the end of 2025, at the ceremony celebrating "the number of stores in Chengdu exceeding 1,000", both Li Hui and Guo Jinyi, the CEO of Luckin Coffee, attended in person. A Luckin employee sighed, "The bosses are very hardworking and hands-on."

Luckin, which has just exceeded 30,000 stores, is facing a decline in profits due to the intense competition in the takeaway market. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Luckin's revenue increased by 32.9% year-on-year to 12.777 billion yuan, while its net profit decreased by 38% year-on-year. The operating profit margin dropped from 10.5% to 6.4%, and the same-store sales growth was only 1.2%.

The mid-price segment has become the most competitive area for Chinese coffee brands. Even Luckin, which has a scale advantage with 30,000 stores, is no exception. Centurium Capital's acquisition of Blue Bottle Coffee aims to accelerate Luckin's high-end strategy. A person familiar with the matter told 36Kr, "Luckin also considered M Stand before."

In addition, this move can also accelerate Luckin's overseas expansion. As of the end of 2025, Luckin had a total of 160 overseas stores, most of which were concentrated in the Southeast Asian market, with only 9 stores in the US market. The US has always been publicly regarded as the last and most difficult market for Chinese brands to enter. As a specialty coffee brand originating from the US, Blue Bottle can support Luckin in terms of overseas channels, local teams, and high-end customer groups.

For Centurium Capital, looking for suitable coffee investment targets globally is well within its comfort zone.

36Kr has learned that Centurium Capital was also interested in Starbucks and Costa before. A person close to Centurium Capital told 36Kr that their interest in Starbucks was based on the premise of "obtaining controlling equity". However, considering that Centurium Capital is the controlling shareholder of Luckin and Starbucks' headquarters hopes to retain some equity and influence in its Chinese business, the possibility of this deal was slim from the beginning.

Centurium Capital got closer to a deal with Costa. Because it can differentiate from Luckin in terms of price range in the domestic market (Luckin targets the mass market, while Costa targets the high-end market) and can also help Luckin accelerate its "internationalization" process. However, this deal did not proceed.

A person close to Costa told 36Kr that this deal was initially favored on the negotiation table. The core reasons were that "the brand is good" and "it has a solid foundation in the UK, with an annual profit of over $200 million". However, the drawbacks are that it has many old stores in Europe that need renovation, and its IT system is outdated, making the transformation difficult and costly.

In the Chinese market, Costa's potential is also not optimistic. "After Boyu invested in Starbucks, Starbucks is opening stores in SKP. Take Beijing as an example, several Costa stores have become less competitive," said another industry insider.

36Kr has also learned that although the overall sale of Costa has not been successful, its Chinese business is still being considered for a separate sale.

In addition, the investment targets that Centurium Capital has seriously evaluated include %Arabica, M Stand, and Blue Bottle Coffee.

36Kr has learned that Nestle's decision to sell Blue Bottle is based on its "asset-light" strategic needs. It hopes to get rid of some relatively asset-heavy retail businesses as soon as possible, which has been the direction it has been working towards since introducing a hedge fund and replacing its CEO. In addition to Blue Bottle Coffee, Nestle is also considering selling its bottled water business.

To this end, Nestle sold Blue Bottle at a discount. A person close to the deal said, "Centurium Capital's transaction price is lower than Nestle's original purchase price."

A coffee industry insider close to Blue Bottle said that after becoming a subsidiary of Nestle, Blue Bottle Coffee still operates relatively independently, which has preserved its brand value and concept well. However, in Asian markets such as China and South Korea, Nestle executives are involved in strategic planning but are not the final decision-makers. The company's specific operations are mainly carried out by Blue Bottle Coffee's own team. However, its development in China has been relatively slow overall.

36Kr has learned that since the second half of last year, Blue Bottle Coffee has had intensive discussions with major domestic shopping malls about opening stores. Many of these spaces were originally occupied by Starbucks' high-end Reserve stores, which were vacated after Starbucks adjusted its store strategy to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

As a brand with a similar price range and positioning to Blue Bottle Coffee, Centurium Capital also contacted Arabica, but the deal did not proceed. An investment industry insider told 36Kr that on the one hand, Blue Bottle Coffee has a better brand authenticity and is more recognized at the cultural level, and its store design is also more high-end and refined. On the other hand, compared with Arabica, Blue Bottle Coffee's performance is relatively better. In addition, Arabica's equity is more dispersed, which will increase the difficulty of mergers and acquisitions.