Acquisitions and Divestitures

12 Months Ended

Sep. 29, 2019

Acquisitions, Divestitures and Strategic Alliance

Fiscal 2019

In the third quarter of fiscal 2019, we sold our company-operated retail business in Thailand to Coffee Concepts Thailand, a joint-venture between Maxim's Caterers Limited and F&N Retail Connection Co. Ltd, converting this operation to a fully licensed market. This transaction resulted in a pre-tax gain of $601.9 million, which was included in net gains resulting from divestiture of certain operations on our consolidated statements of earnings.

In the second quarter of fiscal 2019, we sold our company-operated retail businesses in France and the Netherlands to Alsea, S.A.B. de C.V. converting these operations to fully licensed markets. These transactions did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Fiscal 2018

We entered into an agreement on May 6, 2018 to establish the Global Coffee Alliance with Nestlé. On August 26, 2018, Nestlé licensed the rights to market, sell and distribute Starbucks consumer packaged goods and foodservice products in authorized channels. We received an up-front payment of approximately $7 billion consisting primarily of prepaid royalties which was recorded to current and long-term deferred revenue. See Note 1, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, for the accounting treatment.

On March 23, 2018, we sold our company-operated retail store assets and operations in Brazil to SouthRock, converting these operations to a fully licensed market. This transaction did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

On December 31, 2017, we acquired the remaining 50% interest of our East China joint venture (“East China”) from President Chain Store (Hong Kong) Holding Ltd. and Kai Yu (BVI) collectively, “Uni-President Group” or “UPG”, for approximately $1.4 billion. Approximately $90.5 million of pre-existing liabilities owed by East China to Starbucks were effectively settled upon the acquisition. Acquiring the remaining interest of East China, which at the time operated over 1,400 stores in the Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, built on the Company's ongoing investment in China. The estimated fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed are based on valuation and analysis performed by management.

Concurrently with the purchase of our East China joint venture, we sold our 50% interest in President Starbucks Coffee Taiwan Limited, our joint venture operations in Taiwan, to UPG for approximately $181.2 million. The transaction resulted in a pre-tax gain of $156.6 million which was included in net gain resulting from divestiture of certain operations on our consolidated statements of earnings.

The following table summarizes the preliminary allocation of the total consideration to the fair values of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed as of December 31, 2017, which are reported within our International segment (in millions):



Consideration:
Cash paid for UPG 50% equity interest	$	1,440.8
Fair value of our pre-existing 50% equity interest	1,440.8
Settlement of pre-existing liabilities	90.5
Total consideration	$	2,972.1

Fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	129.5
Accounts receivable	14.3
Inventories	16.1
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	20.6
Property, plant and equipment	254.1
Other long-term assets	44.6
Other intangible assets	818.0
Goodwill	2,164.1
Total assets acquired	$	3,461.3
Accounts payable	34.7
Accrued liabilities	187.7
Stored value card liability	21.7
Other long-term liabilities	245.1
Total liabilities assumed	489.2
Total consideration	$	2,972.1

As a result of this acquisition, we remeasured the carrying value of our preexisting 50% equity method investment to fair value, which resulted in a total gain of $1.4 billion that is not subject to income tax, and was presented as gain resulting from acquisition of joint venture on our consolidated statements of earnings. The fair value of $1.4 billion was calculated using an income approach, which was based on significant inputs that are not observable in the market and thus represents a fair value measurement categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy. Key assumptions used in estimating future cash flows included projected revenue growth and operating expenses, as well as the selection of an appropriate discount rate. Estimates of revenue growth and operating expenses were based on internal projections and considered the historical performance of stores, local market economics and the business environments impacting store performance. The discount rate applied was based on East China's weighted-average cost of capital and included company-specific and size risk premiums.

The assets acquired and liabilities assumed are reported within our International segment. Other current and long-term assets acquired primarily include lease deposits and prepaid rent. Accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities assumed primarily include deferred income tax, dividend payable, accrued payroll, income tax payable and accrued occupancy costs.

The definite-lived intangibles primarily relate to reacquired rights to operate stores exclusively in East China. The reacquired rights of $798.0 million represent the fair value calculated over the remaining original contractual period and will be amortized on a straight-line basis through September 2022. Amortization expense for these definite-lived intangible assets was $163.8 million and $129.8 million for fiscal 2019 and 2018, respectively. The estimated future amortization expense is approximately $157.8 million each year for the next two years and approximately $154.4 million in fiscal 2022.

Goodwill represents the intangible assets that do not qualify for separate recognition and primarily includes the acquired customer base, the acquired workforce including store partners in the region that have strong relationships with these customers, and the existing geographic retail and online presence. The entire balance was allocated to the International segment and is not deductible for income tax purposes. Due to foreign currency translation, the balance of goodwill related to the acquisition decreased $190.6 million since the date of acquisition to $2.0 billion as of September 29, 2019.

We began consolidating East China's results of operations and cash flows into our consolidated financial statements after December 31, 2017. For the year ended September 30, 2018, East China's revenue included in our consolidated statements of earnings was $903.0 million. For the year ended September 30, 2018, East China's net earnings included in our consolidated statements of earnings was $73.1 million.

The following table provides the supplemental pro forma revenue and net earnings of the combined entity had the acquisition date of East China been October 3, 2016, the first day of our first quarter of fiscal 2017, rather than the end of our first quarter of fiscal 2018 (in millions):



	Year Ended
	Sep 30, 2018		Oct 1, 2017 ⁽¹⁾
Revenue	$	24,990.4	$	23,315.0
Net earnings attributable to Starbucks	3,196.8		4,209.0


⁽¹⁾	The pro forma net earnings attributable to Starbucks for fiscal 2017 includes acquisition-related gain of $1.4 billion and transaction and integration costs of $39.3 million for the year ended October 1, 2017.

The amounts in the supplemental pro forma earnings for the periods presented above fully eliminate intercompany transactions, apply our accounting policies and reflect adjustments for additional occupancy costs as well as depreciation and amortization that would have been charged assuming the same fair value adjustments to leases, property, plant and equipment and acquired intangibles had been applied on October 3, 2016. These pro forma results are unaudited and are not necessarily indicative of results of operations that would have occurred had the acquisition actually closed in the prior period or indicative of the results of operations for any future period.

During the year ended September 30, 2018, we incurred approximately $3.6 million of acquisition-related costs, such as regulatory, legal, and advisory fees, which were recorded in general and administrative expenses.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2018, we sold the assets associated with our Tazo brand including Tazo^® signature recipes, intellectual property and inventory to Unilever for a total of $383.8 million. The transaction resulted in a pre-tax gain of $347.9 million, which was included in the net gain from divestiture of certain operations on our consolidated statements of earnings. Results from Tazo operations prior to the sale were reported primarily in Channel Development.

Fiscal 2017

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, we sold our company-operated retail store assets and operations in Singapore to Maxim's Caterers Limited, converting these operations to a fully licensed market, for a total of $119.9 million. This transaction resulted in a pre-tax gain of $83.9 million, which was included in the net gain resulting from divestiture of certain operations on our consolidated statements of earnings.