SINGAPORE - Food and beverage company F&N has acquired the Starbucks Thailand coffee shop chain.

Fraser and Neave, otherwise known as F&N, said on Thursday (May 23) that it has entered into an agreement to buy Starbucks Coffee (Thailand).

The deal was done through Coffee Concepts (Thailand), a partnership between F&N Retail Connection and Maxim's Caterers.

Maxim's Caterers is a long-time partner of the Starbucks company based in the United States.

Maxim's operates Starbucks outlets in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The acquisition will be funded from a mix of debt and equity financing and should close by the end of this month.

It is expected to contribute to F&N's earnings in the financial year that ends on Sept 30.

The investment aims to strengthen F&N's regional footprint and extend its presence into the retail coffee segment of the beverage market, the firm said in a statement.

It added that the acquisition will allow F&N to leverage Maxim's long-standing partnership with Starbucks and its extensive experience in running outlets in multiple markets as well as other food and beverage operations to expand Starbucks Thailand's footprint of 372 cafes.

Maxim's has Chinese, Asian and European restaurants, quick-service eateries, bakery shops, Japanese chain restaurants and institutional catering.

It is also the licensee of other brands, including Genki Sushi, Ippudo Ramen, The Cheesecake Factory and Shake Shack.

It operates around 1,300 outlets in Hong Kong, Macau, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

Mr Koh Poh Tiong, an F&N director and chairman of its board executive committee, said: "We believe that adding Starbucks Thailand ... will ... elevate our capabilities in directly engaging consumers in the long term."