Mister Donut coming to Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan's President Chain Corp. and Japan's Duskin Co. signed an agreement Tuesday to form a 50-50 joint venture to start a Mister Donut chain in Taiwan.

The first store of the venture, called Mister Donut Taiwan Co., will open in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, in the fourth quarter of 2004, the companies said in a joint statement.

The firms said they're starting the partnership with 200 million New Taiwan dollars ($5.8 million) in paid-in capital.

President Chain, a unit of Uni-President Enterprises Corp., operates 7-Eleven shops, Taiwan's largest convenience store chain. It also operates Starbucks coffee outlets.

Duskin owns Mister Donut stores in Japan and also makes household cleaning products, ranging from mops and deodorizers to air purifiers.

The President-Duskin partnership expects to open 100 Mister Donut stores in Taiwan within the next five years, said C.Y. Kao, chairman of Uni-President Enterprise Corp.

"Mister Donut is very popular in Japan and the U.S. We're very happy to be working with Duskin to sell doughnuts in Taiwan," Kao said.

U.S. giants Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. have no stores in Taiwan.