(Yicai) July 14 -- Chagee Holdings, a Chinese new-style tea brand, has sold a controlling stake in its Thailand subsidiary to a consortium led by instant food giant Thai President Foods so as to integrate local expertise and infrastructure for faster overseas growth.

Thai President Beverage paid more than THB142 million (USD4.4 million) for 51 percent of Chagee Thailand, its Bangkok-based parent company announced recently.

Thai President Foods owns 55 percent of Thai President Beverage, with Komsan Saelee, founder of local logistics unicorn Flash Express, holding a 25 percent stake and Chanond Ruangkritya, founder and chief executive of builder Ananda Development, the rest.

Southeast Asia has become the second battleground for Chinese tea chain brands, Zhu Danpeng, vice president of the Guangdong Food Safety Promotion Association, told Yicai. Chagee can get access to Thailand's resources, networks, and supply chain advantages through the new tie-up, which will help it expand into the local market, Zhu added.

Chagee set up its first joint venture in Southeast Asia in May, with a 60 percent stake in the JV. Magma Chain Management, a unit of Malaysian hotel giant Magma Group, owns the rest.

The Shanghai-based company started expanding overseas in 2019, and had 169 stores outside of the Chinese mainland as of March 31 -- 157 outlets in Malaysia, 10 in Singapore, and two in Thailand. In addition, it opened its first cafe in Indonesia in April and in the United States in May.

Chagee's net profit rose 14 percent to CNY677.3 million (USD93.3 million) in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier, while its revenue jumped 35 percent to CNY3.4 billion (USD467.5 million). The number of its stores surged 64 percent to 6,681.

On April 17, Chagee raised USD411 million from an initial public offering in New York, becoming the fifth Chinese tea chain to go public after Nayuki Holdings, Baicha Baidao Industrial, Guming Holdings, and Mixue Group, and the first to list in the United States. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev