Mubadala has agreed that it is to make a “significant minority investment” in Luckin Coffee alongside Centurium Capital, the Company’s controlling shareholder.
Luckin Coffee is a Chinese coffee company and coffeehouse chain founded in Beijing in 2017. The company has 36,000 stores across China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the US offering affordable coffee, tea and food. It operates a combination of self-operated and partnership stores.
The brand is famous for its focus on technologies that has enabled it to optimise the customer experience.
Mubadala is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for the Government of Abu Dhabi. Centurium Capital is a private equity investment firm focused on the consumer, healthcare and technology sectors in China.
The investment comes as China’s coffee market continues to expand, with more consumers choosing freshly brewed coffee and existing coffee drinkers consuming it more frequently.
“We continue to see compelling long-term opportunities in China’s consumer sector,” said Mohamed Albadr, Head of Asia, Private Equity at Mubadala.
“Luckin Coffee has built a differentiated, technology-enabled business with data embedded across customer engagement, product development and store operations. This combination of scale, digital capabilities and rapid product innovation has enabled the Company to respond to evolving consumer preferences efficiently and at pace.”
He said that the company would be building on its longstanding partnership with Centurium, and would be looking to support the company’s next phase of growth in China and internationally.
“We are pleased to welcome Mubadala as an investor in Luckin Coffee,” said Michael Chen, Partner of Centurium Capital.
“We are confident that Mubadala’s sector knowledge combined with its global perspective and network will support Luckin Coffee’s continued innovation and long-term development.”
Mubadala’s US$385 billion portfolio spans six continents with interests in multiple sectors. Centurium Capital was founded in 2017 and has approximately US$7 billion in assets under management.
