Starbucks Franchise in Middle East and North Africa May See New Investor

Alshaya, which operates nearly 2,000 Starbucks outlets in 13 countries, including Morocco, is considering selling a minority stake of around 30% in the American coffee chain, sources told Reuters, adding that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (previously shortlisted) remained in negotiations. The valuation of the American company for 2022 is between 4 and 5 billion dollars.

What about the advantage of this operation? It could provide relief to the Kuwaiti group. The latter has been in difficulty since the economic crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This crisis had a negative impact on Alshaya Morocco. Consequence: the Moroccan subsidiary saw its turnover reduced by 82 million dirhams (MDH) following cumulative net losses.

December 2021: new reduction of the capital of Alshaya Morocco. Its capital went from 142 MDH to 65 MDH after the company recorded losses of 76.9 MDH. Two years later, the financial difficulties of the Moroccan subsidiary of the Kuwaiti group persist.