Starbucks’ Chinese rival Luckin Coffee seeks to raise up to US$586.5 million in US initial public offering
- Luckin Coffee currently operates 2,370 stores and plans to open 2,500 more this year as it tries to displace Starbucks as China’s largest coffee chain
- The company intends to list on Nasdaq under the symbol ‘LK’
Luckin Coffee, the Chinese challenger to Starbucks Corp, is looking to raise up to US$586.5 million, its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday showed.
The company said it expects to offer 34.5 million American depository shares (ADS) priced between US$15 and US$17 per ADS in an initial public offering.
Luckin Coffee, which has been expanding at breakneck speed, currently operates 2,370 stores in 28 Chinese cities and plans to open 2,500 more this year as it tries to displace Starbucks as China’s largest coffee chain.
The brand is banking on an increase in coffee consumption in China which has almost doubled to 8.7 billion cups last year from 4.4 billion in 2013 and is expected to further rise to 15.5 billion cups by 2023, according to a report cited by Luckin in its prospectus.
Luckin has also expanded outside coffee, allowing customers to buy food and other beverages such as grapefruit cheese jasmine tea and Sichuan cold noodles with pulled chicken via its app.