Starbucks cedes China control to Boyu Capital
Starbucks announced Monday it will sell a controlling stake in its Chinese retail operations to investment firm Boyu Capital in a deal valuing the business at around $4 billion.Under the agreement, Boyu will hold up to 60 percent of a new joint venture operating 8,000 Starbucks stores across China, while the Seattle-based company retains a 40 percent stake and continues to own the brand and intellectual property.The partnership marks a strategic shift for Starbucks after more than 26 years in China, combining the global coffee chain’s brand recognition with Boyu’s local market expertise to expand into smaller cities and new regions.China represents Starbucks’s second biggest market globally, though the company has faced increasing competition from local coffee chains like Luckin coffee that has won over customers with lower prices. Starbucks reported last week that its latest quarterly same-store sales in China increased by two percent, fueled by an increase in traffic, but added that average spending per ticket had dropped.The company said it expects the total value of its China retail business to exceed $13 billion, including proceeds from the sale, its retained interest, and future licensing fees over the next decade.”Boyu’s deep local knowledge and expertise will help accelerate our growth in China, especially as we expand into smaller cities and new regions,” said Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol.The companies said they aim to grow the store count to as many as 20,000 locations over time, with the business continuing to be headquartered in Shanghai.The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of fiscal year 2026, pending regulatory approvals.
‘Wild at Heart’ actress Diane Ladd dies at 89
Diane Ladd, the Oscar-nominated “Wild at Heart” actress and mother of Laura Dern, died Monday. She was 89.In a career spanning eight decades, Ladd was nominated for the best supporting actress Academy Award three times: in Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart,” and “Rambling Rose.” The news of Ladd’s death was announced by Dern, Ladd’s Oscar-winning actress daughter from her first marriage to Bruce Dern.”My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother passed with me beside her this morning at her home in Ojai, California,” Laura Dern wrote in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.Born in Mississippi in 1935, Southern belle Ladd appeared in many television and stage shows before Scorsese gave her a breakout role as a sassy waitress in 1974’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.”Lynch cast Ladd to play the murderous, vengeful mother of Dern’s Lula in his surreal, Cannes Palme d’Or-winning black comedy “Wild At Heart” in 1990.Ladd once again shared the screen with her daughter in the following year’s “Rambling Rose,” a period drama set in the Deep South during the Great Depression.Ladd’s other film credits included “Chinatown” and “Inland Empire.””She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” wrote Dern.”We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”No cause of death was provided.
Angleterre: Sunderland concède le nul face à Everton (1-1)
Sunderland s’est rapproché de la tête du classement malgré un match nul (1-1) face à Everton lundi en match de clôture de la 10e journée du Championnat d’Angleterre Les Black Cats de l’entraîneur français Régis le Bris, qui avaient l’occasion de se hisser en deuxième position en cas de victoire, grimpent toutefois à la quatrième place (18 pts), ex aequo avec Liverpool et Bournemouth, avant de recevoir Arsenal, le leader, samedi.Everton, qui remonte d’une place (14e avec 12 pts), restait sur des défaites contre Manchester City et Tottenham sans marquer, et ne compte qu’une seule victoire dans les sept derniers matches de Premier League.Iliman Ndiaye a ouvert le score au quart d’heure de jeu pour Everton en se jouant de quatre défenseurs avant de loger la balle du gauche dans le petit filet.A la demi-heure, l’attaquant français Thierno Barry a eu la balle du 2-0 mais sa frappe de près, sur un centre de Jack Grealish très actif sur son côté gauche, est partie trop haut.Sunderland a égalisé dès le retour des vestiaires sur une frappe à la limite de la surface de Granit Xhaka déviée par un défenseur (46e). Deux minute plus tard, il fallait un réflexe du portier d’Everton Jordan Pickford, qui affrontait pour la première fois son club formateur depuis son départ en 2017, pour sortir un nouveau nouveau tir dévié. Dans le temps additionnel, le jeune Argentin Carlos “Charly” Alcaraz a eu la balle du KO pour l’autre club de la Mersey au bout d’un contre mais a très mal négocié son dernier dribble.Petite consolation, Sunderland reste invaincu au Stadium of Light cette saison (3 victoires, 2 nuls).