Luckin Coffee weighs Gulf entry backed by $1B Mubadala investment (interview)

Six years after an accounting fraud sent it into US bankruptcy proceedings and off Nasdaq, Luckin has rebuilt into China's biggest coffee chain by sales, past Starbucks, with an over-the-counter valuation of roughly $9.6 billion. In early September 2026, Abu Dhabi's $385 billion sovereign fund Mubadala became a direct investor through a $1 billion joint investment with Centurium Capital, Luckin's controlling shareholder — with neither side disclosing the respective stake sizes.

Chairman David Li told CNBC in an exclusive interview that Luckin is 'potentially entering' Gulf countries as it weighs its next overseas markets; CEO Jinyi Guo, in a separate CNBC interview, cited stable, high-frequency coffee demand and a growing preference for low-sugar, health-oriented drinks. A Middle East push was planned back in 2019 but never happened amid the fraud scandal. Today the overseas footprint is still modest: about 23 stores in New York City a year after the US debut, 150 in Malaysia and 100 in Singapore, against more than 36,000 stores across mainland China and Hong Kong.

The scale behind the ambition is company-reported: in the second quarter revenue grew 28.5% year over year to ¥15.9 billion ($2.34 billion), average monthly transacting customers rose 23% to 112.7 million, and 2,714 net new stores opened (figures cited by CNBC from Luckin's results). Guo also said the company is 'actively pushing' a relisting on a US mainboard, which still needs Chinese regulatory approval and has no clear timeline. Backer Centurium separately bought premium chain Blue Bottle Coffee from Nestlé in April for reportedly under $400 million.

Q2 2026 revenue up 28.5% to ¥15.9B ($2.34B) with 112.7M monthly transacting customers and 36,000+ stores in China and Hong Kong (company figures cited by CNBC)

Gulf markets offer stable, high-frequency coffee demand and a growing taste for low-sugar, health-oriented drinks, per CEO Jinyi Guo.

The domestic turnaround — bigger than Starbucks in China — finally gives Luckin the scale and credibility to expand abroad.

Mubadala's $1 billion direct investment ties Luckin to the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund whose home region is the one under consideration.

Overseas scale is tiny next to China — roughly 273 stores outside it versus more than 36,000 at home — making new regions the next growth leg.

Sovereign-fund capital follows proof: fix the home market first, and the money — and the option to enter new regions — tends to come to you.

No Gulf entry has been announced yet; Li said the region is under consideration as Luckin keeps building out Singapore and Malaysia, its other Asian markets. Temasek disclosed a 6.4% stake in a May regulatory filing. The US mainboard relisting Guo described remains pending Chinese regulatory approval with no clear timeline, and the Mubadala–Centurium stake split stays undisclosed.