Jardines' DFI Retail swaps Maxim's stake for Starbucks license and $340m

Business deals Jardines' DFI Retail swaps Maxim's stake for Starbucks license and $340m

Reorganization shakes up decades-old Hong Kong relationship

Pedestrians walk past a Starbucks coffeehouse in Hong Kong. DFI Retail is taking control of the cafe chain's licensed operations across seven Asian markets. (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE -- Hong Kong-based DFI Retail Group will take over a network of more than 1,100 Starbucks stores in seven Asian markets from food and beverage business Maxim's Caterers, according to bourse filings, aiming to capitalize on coffee and tea spending by the region's "rising middle class."