Centurium Capital purchased the high-end U.S. coffee chain, which has about 100 stores worldwide, for less than $400 million from global food giant Nestle

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Centurium Capital Management Ltd. has agreed to purchase the Blue Bottle Coffee chain from Nestle (OTC:NSRGY) (OTC:NSRGF) (NESN.SW) for less than $400 million, with potential to combine the chain with Luckin Coffee Inc. (OTC:LKNCY), which it also controls. Such a deal would significantly expand Luckin's footprint beyond its home China market, as it looks to take on Starbucks (SBUX.US) around the world.

Centurium's final price was well below the $700 million Nestle was originally seeking when it began to look for potential buyers of the Blue Bottle chain late last year, according to Caixin, citing an unnamed source familiar with the deal. Centurium declined to comment, and Nestle didn't respond to requests for comment.

Nestle acquired 68% of Blue Bottle in 2017 for $425 million, and later bought out the California chain entirely. It boosted Blue Bottle's footprint from around 30 shops at the end of 2016 to its current count of around 100. In addition to the U.S., the company also operates stores in Canada, Japan and South Korea. It also entered China in 2020, and had 16 stores in the cities of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.

Luckin is far larger, with 30,000 stores as of early February. The vast majority of Luckin's stores are in China, though the company has embarked on a recent global expansion and had 118 stores in the U.S., Singapore and Malaysia at the end of last September.

Centurium holds 23% of Luckin's stock, but controls 44% of its voting power, making it the Chinese company's controlling shareholder. Luckin is squarely focused on the lower end of the market, selling its coffee in the 10 yuan ($1.45) to 20 yuan range. By comparison, Blue Bottle is positioned as a higher-end brand selling products in China for nearly 50 yuan per cup. Centurium doesn't plan to integrate Luckin and Blue Bottle, the source told Caixin.

The deal marks the latest for Centurium in the coffee sector. The private equity company was reportedly interested when Starbucks was looking for a local partner for its China business last year. Starbucks ended up choosing private equity firm Boyu Capital instead.

Centurium and Luckin were also reportedly exploring bids for Costa Coffee, owned by U.S. beverage giant Coca Cola (KO.US) late last year. But Coke ultimately decided not to sell after deciding the offer prices were too low. Costa is much larger than Blue Bottle, with around 4,000 stores in 52 countries.

Luckin shares rose 0.7% on Thursday to close at $35.01. The stock is up nearly 20% over the last year.

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Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.