Starbucks is weighing a majority stake sale in Japan, Reuters reports

SentiSense · Published Sep 16, 2026, 11:52 AM ET · Updated Sep 28, 2026, 2:45 AM ET

Starbucks is considering selling a majority stake in its Japan business, Reuters reported on September 16, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. The reporting values the entire Japan operation at about $3 billion; the size of the stake has yet to be determined. Starbucks did not confirm, saying it continually assesses the best structure for the business. Japan runs 1,883 stores, about 9% of the global footprint, and the move would echo the 60% sale of Starbucks China to Boyu Capital.

SBUX is considering selling a majority stake in its Japan business, Reuters reported on September 16, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. The company did not confirm it. Asked for comment, Starbucks said Japan is a strong business with deep brand affinity built over 30 years and that it continually assesses the best structure to create value for shareholders, which neither confirms nor denies a process.

Two details in the reporting are easy to misread. The roughly $3 billion figure values the entire Japan operation, not the stake that would change hands, and the size of that stake has yet to be determined and would be subject to negotiation. Reuters says the process is expected to draw interest from global and local buyout firms, but names none as a bidder for Japan.

The strategic logic follows a path Starbucks has already walked. Under chief executive Brian Niccol the company has closed stores and cut corporate jobs in North America to restore profitability, and it sold a 60% stake in its China retail operations to Boyu Capital while keeping 40%, in a deal that valued the China business at about $4 billion. Japan is a comparable asset: 1,883 stores, roughly 9% of the global footprint as of September 2025, in a mature market Starbucks took full control of in 2014 by buying out joint-venture partner Sazaby League for about $914 million, a price that valued the operation near $1.5 billion at the time.

That history is the number worth holding onto. A business bought out at a roughly $1.5 billion valuation and reportedly marked near $3 billion today would be a solid outcome on its own terms, while converting an owned market into a licensed or partnered one trades future operating profit for cash now. Shares ended little changed on the report, closing around $97.34 on September 16 per secondary market data. Watch for confirmation from the company, the eventual stake size, and whether Starbucks retains a minority position as it did in China.