U.S. Starbucks To Acquire Starbucks Coffee Japan

Above, Shibuya Crossing with the Starbucks in the Tsutaya Building in the background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While I was in Japan a few years ago, I stopped into the Starbucks coffee shop at Shibuya Crossing (also known as Shibuya Scramble) in the Tsutaya Building. This is the Starbucks whose dining room overlooks Shibuya Crossing and was featured in Lost In Translation.

I had with me at the time a couple of Starbucks gift cards that I received during Christmas. The cashier girl just stared at them and said they don't accept them in Japan. It was my impression that this was the first time she ever saw a Starbucks gift card.

Maybe all that will change once the acquisition by Starbucks Corp. of the stores in Japan is completed.

According to the Asahi Shimbun:

U.S.-based Starbucks Corp. said Sept. 23 that it will pay 99.5 billion yen ($914 million) to acquire the remaining 60.5 percent share of Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. that it does not currently own. 

The world’s biggest coffee store chain said it will acquire the remaining shares through a two-step tender offer process.

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