Starbucks could be on the verge of another significant overseas deal. The company, per a report from Reuters, is considering offloading a majority stake in its Japan business. It could value Starbucks’ largest overseas company-operated market at about $3 billion, two sources informed the publication.
Starbucks’ Japan operations cover 1,883 stores and account for nearly 9 percent of the chain’s entire global footprint (September 2025 data).
Reuters said Starbucks collected pitches from “several financial advisers” on options for the business and remains open to selling a majority stake. While Starbucks’ Japan valuation is not public, sources suggested it was worth about $3 billion, as noted.
Still, the level of stake or any sale has not yet been determined. And what valuation Starbucks ultimately seeks remains subject to negotiations.
In an emailed response to Reuters, Starbucks said it’s continually assessing the best structure “to be the most meaningful to customers and create value for shareholders” in Japan.
This isn’t the first time news of a potential deal surfaced. Bloomberg in June also reported Starbucks was weighing options for its Japan division, include a stake sale.
Sources said Starbucks’ Japan business is expected to attract interest from global and local buyout firms, and a formal process could ignite as early as Q4. Starbucks has held full control of the Japan arm since 2014, when it bought out Sazaby League for roughly $914 million, which valued the operation those days at $1.5 billion.
Starbucks had purchased the remaining 60.5 percent share of Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd in a two-step deal. Starbucks Japan operated as a joint venture between the company and Sazaby League dating to 1995. That summer, Sazaby approach Starbucks about selling its stake. There were about 1,050 cafes in Japan (meaning it’s added more than 800 since).
Japan, according to reports, has among the highest profit margin locations globally.
The purchase price for Sazaby’s 39.5 percent stake was $505 million. Shortly after the deal, Starbucks began buying the remaining 21 percent held by public and option shareholders of Starbucks Japan’s common stock for $408.5 million.
TD Securities analysts in June said monetizing Starbucks’ Japan unit would make strategic sense, Reuters reported, because the market is not central to Starbucks’ brand. And it could further allow management under CEO Brian Niccol to sharpen focus on reviving the core U.S. business.
International same-store sales grew 5.7 percent in Q3, with Niccol spotlighting “continued strength in Japan and the U.K.” during Starbucks’ earnings call.
The company’s global same-store sales climbed 7.9 percent in the quarter for a two-year stack of 5.9 percent. Traffic increased 4.2 percent (2.2 percent two year). Starbucks’ U.S. comps rose 7.9 percent as well (two-year view of 5.9 percent) on traffic of 4.2 percent (0.2 percent two year). Ticket hiked 3.6 percent and was 5.6 percent higher over two years. Food attachment set Q3 records at U.S. company-run restaurants, with the strongest gains in the afternoon. Pricing contributed less than a point of ticket growth.
Starbucks opened 175 net new stores in Q3, exiting at 41,304. The U.S. had 16,933 of those. Overall, Starbucks ended Q3 with 18,371 restaurants in North America, a 2 percent decline year-over-year from 18,734.
Starbucks last year entered an agreement to form a joint venture with Boyu Capital, an alternative investment firm with more than 200 portfolio companies, to operate Starbucks retail in China. Under the deal, which closed in April, Boyu held an up to 60 percent interest in Starbucks’ area business. Starbucks retained the balance and continued to own and license the brand and intellectual property to the new entity.
Boyu acquired its interest based on a cash-free, debt-free enterprise value of about $4 billion.
Starbucks expected the total value of its China retail business to exceed $13 billion inclusive of three sources—proceeds from the sale of a controlling interest in the joint venture to Boyu, the value of Starbucks’ retained interest in the joint venture, and the net present value of ongoing licensing economics payable to Starbucks over the coming decade or longer. That represented more than 4X Starbucks’ China’s fiscal 2025 sales.
The business continued to be based in Shanghai and owns and operates the 8,000 Starbucks units across the market, with a goal to reach as many as 20,000.
Reuters said it was not clear if the sale of the Japan business would follow the same structure. A number of global buyout firms, Carlyle Group and Bain Capital included, were invited to bid for Starbucks China at the time.
And returning to the notion of zeroing in on domestic operations, the Financial Times reported earlier in the month, citing company executives, Starbucks was planning to invest $1 billion to revamp thousands of North American coffeehouses. That would potentially cover as many as 9,000 of Starbucks’ company-operated North America restaurants, turning them into “community lounges” with more seating, leather chairs, rugs, bookshelves, plants, and artwork.
Starbucks’ uplifts, the company said previously, are focused more on warmer and welcoming experiences than complete makeovers. In part, the cost is lower than past refreshes at about $150,000 per location and can be completed overnight. They retain flooring and countertops.
The company said it’s already added about 25,000 chairs and expects to complete 1,500 upgrades by the end of September.
Starbucks surpassed 1,000 uplifts across North America last quarter, reaching its fiscal 2026 goal ahead of schedule. For perspective, going back a quarter, the brand was at a shade more than 300. So, it uplifted over 650 that period alone.
Q3 marked Starbucks’ fourth consecutive period of positive global comps and second of consolidated margin growth (100 basis points year-over-year) as the brand hit five-year highs in affinity, consideration, and purchase intent.
Starbucks expects full 2026 U.S. same-store sales growth to eclipse 6 percent and Q4 to report 6.5 percent or better.
