Starbucks, the world's biggest coffee chain operator, bought Beijing Mei Da Coffee Co yesterday, its authorized developer in North China, as it steps up its expansion in the country.

A Starbucks employee pours coffee beans into a grinder at the Seattle-based company's first retail coffee store in Beijing in this Jan. 11, 1999 file photo. Starbucks Corp. said Tuesday it has expanded direct control of its operations in China by buying a Hong Kong company that has operated more than 60 of its coffee houses.[AP Photo]

The Seattle-based coffee chain yesterday acquired High Grown Investment Group (Hong Kong), the majority shareholder of Beijing Mei Da, from H&Q Asia Pacific, a private equity firm.

Beijing Mei Da currently operates more than 60 Starbucks retail outlets in Beijing and the nearby port city of Tianjin.

Both sides declined to reveal the financial terms of the deal.

The latest acquisition, which gives Starbucks a 90 per cent controlling stake in Beijing Mei Da, will help the coffee company "achieve greater operational efficiencies and accelerate our expansion in China," said Wang Jinlong, president of Starbucks Greater China, yesterday.

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