“We have been speaking quite closely with the Singapore Exchange, and I think they’re doing great things to overhaul the exchange,” co-founder and group CEO Edward Tirtanata told The Straits Times.
The company is also considering the United States, Hong Kong and Indonesia, and has not ruled out a dual listing.
Tirtanata said the choice would hinge on how favorable conditions at each exchange were for an ASEAN consumer company at the time.
Hong Kong, for example, may currently be more receptive to artificial intelligence and biotechnology firms, whereas consumer companies tend to be well received on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, he said.
Before choosing the Singapore Exchange, Tirtanata wants more clarity on how companies can arrange dual listings in Singapore and on regional exchanges.
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A Kenangan Coffee outlet. Photo courtesy of the company |
Coffee and food and beverage businesses are “always the flavor of the month” on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. A coffee company could also bring something new to Singapore Exchange as it seeks to broaden its offerings beyond sectors such as real estate investment trusts.
“A coffee company could offer something different for local investors and make it more interesting,” he added.
Tirtanata co-founded Kopi Kenangan in 2017 alongside two schoolmates, and, as CEO, has scaled the Jakarta-based business to more than 1,500 stores across seven markets, according to World Coffee Portal. Williams and Jay-Z are among several high-profile investors who backed the business, contributing an undisclosed amount in a 2019 seed funding round.
An initial public offering would not chiefly fund Kenangan Coffee’s expansion, since internal cash flow finances most new stores. Instead, a listing would provide early investors with a more liquid market for their holdings and an opportunity to realize their investments, Tirtanata said, adding he has no plans to exit the business and intends to stay for at least another decade.
Kenangan Coffee operates over 1,100 outlets in Indonesia. It has 10 outlets in Singapore, having opened its first at Raffles City in 2023.
Although its Singapore stores record some of the highest sales across its seven markets, high rents and capital expenditure make rapid growth there riskier than in Indonesia or Malaysia, where it has 200 stores. The company plans to open about 85 stores in Malaysia and nearly 390 in Indonesia in 2026.
It has set no expansion target for Singapore, where it will add stores only when it can find locations with rents that allow an acceptable return.
“One unprofitable store in Singapore can be equivalent to four to five profitable stores” in terms of the impact on earnings, he said.
Competition is also intense. Chinese coffee giant Luckin Coffee already has 103 outlets in Singapore after just three years in the market.
Meanwhile, plans are underway to expand Starbucks’ coffee offerings after DFI Retail Group took control of the chain’s licensed operations in Asia, including Singapore, on Sept. 30.