The purchase price is just a fifth of the coffee chain’s 2021 valuation, highlighting challenges with profitability and store closures since the pandemic
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The Coffee House currently operates 93 sites, down from over 150 15 month ago | Photo credit: Pham Van Ninh
Vietnamese restaurant giant Golden Gate has confirmed its acquisition of The Coffee House from retail group Seedcom for a marked down price of VND 270bn ($10.5m).
According to a statement accompanying its consolidated financial results, Golden Gate purchased 99.98% of shares of Vietnam Tea and Coffee Trading Service Corporation – the legal entity operating The Coffee House – on 8 January 2025.
The modest purchase price reflects a challenging period for The Coffee House since the pandemic and is just 20% of the $50m valuation given to the Ho Chi Minh City-based coffee chain by auditing firm ASCO in April 2021.
Founded in 2014, The Coffee House was once one of Vietnam’s fastest-growing coffee chains with over 150 outlets. Retail conglomerate Seedcom, which also operates the Juno fashion brand and supermarket chain King Food Mart, took a controlling stake in The Coffee House in 2020 but struggled to generate stable revenues.
In 2022, The Coffee House achieved 67% year-on-year net revenue growth to reach VND 781bn ($30.5m). However, the coffee chain’s revenues fell 11% the following year to VND 700bn ($27.5m).
Further highlighting its financial difficulties, The Coffee House did not turn a profit between 2019-2023, with parent company Seedcom accumulating losses of VND 1.17trn ($49.82m) and forced to close stores. The Coffee House now operates just 93 sites, predominantly in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
Founded in 2005, Golden Gate is one of Vietnam’s leading F&B groups with a portfolio comprising nearly 500 restaurants across 22 brands. Alongside popular hotpot and BBQ chains Gogi House and Kichi-Kichi, the group also operates bubble tea chain Yu Tang and café operator The Coffee Inn.
Golden Gate posted 5.5% revenue growth for the 12 months ended 31 December 2024 to reach VND 6.63trn ($258.7m). However, the restaurant group’s annual net profit fell 28% to VND 100bn ($3.9m).