Gold Prices Rise as Weaker Dollar and Iran Ceasefire Hopes Boost Safe-Haven Demand 
China-Made Fireworks Power U.S. Independence Day Celebrations Amid Trade Truce 
Continental AG Shares Jump After Q1 Profit Beats Expectations 
Morgan Stanley Bets on Optical Component Stocks in Greater China Tech Sector 
Broadcom Eyes $35 Billion AI Chip Financing Deal With Apollo and Blackstone 
Lufthansa Q1 Loss Narrows as Strong Summer Travel Demand Boosts Outlook 
OCBC Q1 Profit Rises 5% on Strong Wealth Management and Non-Interest Income 
Lula and Trump Talks Signal New Phase in Brazil-US Relations 
Japan’s Yen Intervention and BOJ Rate Hike Bets Support Currency Recovery 
Aker BP Q1 Profit Jumps on Higher Oil Prices and Asset Reversal 
Philips Reaffirms 2026 Outlook After Strong Q1 Sales and Margin Beat 
Armani Group Eyes Strategic Stake Sale to Luxury Giants 
Coinbase Q1 2026 Earnings Miss Sends COIN Stock Lower Amid Crypto Market Slump 
BMW Keeps 2026 Outlook Despite 25% Profit Drop Amid Tariff Pressure 
Dollar Struggles to Rally Despite Strong US Data as Fed Hike Expectations Remain Limited 
Trump Signals Possible U.S.-Iran Peace Deal as Markets Rally on Hopes of War Ending 
AWS Data Center Overheating Disrupts Cloud Services in Northern Virginia 
Starbucks Corp. is allegedly thinking of selling its business operations in the United Kingdom. The reason why the coffee company is exploring this move is that newer brands of coffee houses are coming into the market and creating tough competition.
According to Reuters, Starbucks Coffee hired and requested Houlihan Lokey Inc., a business adviser, to canvass any interest for its U.K. operations. It was mentioned by a business insider that the company is facing stiff competition against its rivals such as Tim Hortons, Costa, and Pret A Manger.
Currently, Starbucks U.K. is operating more than 1,000 store outlets, and its workforce consists of about 4,000 employees. The Financial Times reported that out of 1,000 Starbucks stores in the U.K., 70% are franchises, while the remaining are company owned.
In any case, while it is mulling the sale of its business in the country, it was reported that it has not yet initiated any formal process for the sale. As of this time, the company is reviewing and evaluating its strategic options.
Aside from the arrival of many new coffee store brands in the U.K., another thing that pushed Starbucks to consider the sale of its business is the prolonged pandemic. The restrictions related to COVID-19 have changed consumer habits, including the way people dine. As a result, businesses have been severely affected, and they started seeing their sales going down.
The news that Starbucks is considering the sale of its business first emerged during the weekend. While it is not yet really pushing for the sale of its U.K. operations, Starbucks is making plans to recover higher sales while also improving its services. It is making adjustments based on how people buy and dine as they are only starting to go out of their homes now as the cases of COVID-19 have gone down.
The coffee chain is hoping that offices, entertainment locations, parks, and other public establishments will recover and return to normal operations because this will also be beneficial to their business.
“It’s quite a capital-intensive estate and it is pretty urban-focused,” a person familiar with the Starbucks sale exploration said with regards to the issue. “It got hammered quite hard in Covid and it has not come back to the same level.”
