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Bain Capital acquires Gong cha on its Asia Pacific store base, with US scale still to come

8/6/2026

The case for Bain Capital's acquisition of Gong cha Global rests on verifiable physical scale: roughly 2,200 outlets across 33 markets, and franchisee unit economics that Bain Capital partner Naofumi Nishi described as among the strongest in the sector.

The chain was founded in Taiwan in 2006 and has since established itself in Japan, Korea, and Australia, while expanding into the Americas and Europe.

What complicates the thesis is that the growth Bain is pricing in runs through markets where Gong cha has not yet built that same density.

The store-level logic Bain Capital is acquiring Gong cha from TA Associates and other shareholders for an undisclosed sum.