Chatime eyes another 200 stores, plans listing in 2018

Loob Holding Sdn Bhd, the licensed owner of bubble tea chain Chatime Malaysia, aims to open 200 additional outlets nationwide under its three-year expansion plan, said CEO Bryan Loo.

He said the company had partnered with Shell Malaysia to open Chatime outlets at 100 Shell petrol stations across the country, aimed at integrating bubble tea drinking as part of Malaysians' lifestyle.

"We already have 20 stores at Shell petrol stations and will open another 80 outlets over the next three years," he told Bernama recently.

There are 175 Chatime stores in Malaysia at present.

Loo said the company was targeting to penetrate 25 percent of the total petrol station market share in Malaysia, leaving it with another 300-400 potential stores to be opened in the future.

To grow further, he said the company was also looking at opening Chatime outlets at the 92 light rail transit stations, given they have the mass concentration of people.

"We are already speaking to them (Prasarana Malaysia Bhd). We want to reach every single location," he said.

As for the company's long-term plan, Loo said it planned to go for an initial public offering on Bursa Malaysia in the next two years.

He said due to the weaker market sentiment, the company has to hold its plans for now and would execute it in 2018.

"I want to create a legacy for the family and organisation.

"The only way is to take the company public and allow public funds to grow the company to the regional level," he added.