good news for German Starbucks afficionados

Filed in archive Global Economy on November 29, 2004

Apparently the US giant is now free to spread new coffeeshops all over Germany:

"Starbucks Corp. (SBUX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it now owns 100 percent of its German operations after buying KarstadtQuelle AG's (KARG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) majority stake in the two companies' coffee shop joint venture for an undisclosed amount.

The deal, which Starbucks said closed on Friday, comes as Germany's Karstadt, as the company is known for short, is trying to refocus on its primary department store business in the face of slowing sales.

Starbucks previously owned 18 percent of the German joint venture, which opened its first coffee shop in Berlin in 2002."

Welcome!