Sunday, 27 September 2026 · Daily Market Intel

Market IntelSun, 27 Sept

Highlands Coffee founder David Thai pays US$88 million to retake control.

Control focus · fuel fares · cheap lists

Someone's payday
- Highlands Coffee's founder already owned 40%, so why pay US$88 million for 11% more? — VnExpress International
  David Thai, who founded Vietnam's Highlands Coffee, is buying 11% back from Philippine owner Jollibee for US$88 million, lifting his stake from 40% to 51%. The deal values the 1,062-outlet chain at about US$800 million.
  Positive-sum angle: Jollibee paid US$25 million for 49% in 2012 and keeps that stake, now worth about US$390 million by CÈ's arithmetic. Thai gets the majority before a listing planned for early 2027, and the buyers at that listing get a founder-run chain.
  What's the impact: A Saigon or Manila founder taking a big company's cheque should write the right to buy back a majority, priced by a set formula, into the deal now. Thai paid about 16 times more per percentage point than Jollibee did.
Your costs
- Vietjet's Thai flights still run 88% full, so why do fares cost up to 25% more? — The Nation Thailand
  Jet fuel hit US$195 a barrel last week, 117% above a year earlier. Fuel now takes 60% of a budget airline's costs, up from about 30%, and AirAsia and Vietjet fares run 20% to 25% above February levels.
  Positive-sum angle: Full planes let carriers raise fares instead of cutting routes, so Chiang Mai hotels, Phuket tour operators and provincial suppliers keep their air link. When fuel eases, the seats are still there to discount.
  What's the impact: A Bangkok distributor flying sales reps to Chiang Mai and Hat Yai each month should budget travel 25% higher through December. Swapping one trip in three for a video call covers the rise.
The tool
- Building buyer lists by hand? A US$20 Exa run found 2,451 firms where Claude found 146 — MarkTechPost
  Exa's new Agent Ultra splits one research question across many AI helpers working at once. A default run costs up to US$20 and about 30 minutes; in Exa's own test it listed 2,451 companies to Claude Opus's 146.
  Positive-sum angle: A list an intern builds over days now costs less than lunch for two, so exporters, recruiters and small agencies can chase markets they used to skip. Suppliers who land on those lists meet buyers who would never have found them.
  What's the impact: A Ho Chi Minh City furniture exporter can ask it for every US furniture importer this week, for about US$20. Exa sells it as an API, a service other software plugs into, so a done-for-you list service for SEA exporters is the business to build on top.

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