Chatime Malaysia’s frachisor, La Kaffa seems to be winning the bubble tea war as Tealive bubble tea brand owner Loob Holding’s appeal to stay in business has been rejected by the Court of Appeal yesterday.
This means that Tealive must close all of its 161 outlets in Malaysia as the Court of Appeal has granted La Kaffa an injunction to stop Loob Holding from carrying out a similar business as Chatime for a period of 2 years.
So if Tealive refuses to comply with the court’s order, they can be fined or jailed for contempt of court, which means the offense of opposing or defying the authority of the court.
Tealive’s closure will have a direct impact on all of its 800 staff, but Chatime has offered to re-employ those who are affected by the verdict.
“Within the scope allowed by the relevant laws, we would welcome former Chatime franchisees and employees, who have been affected by the whole ordeal, to contact us should they require assistance from us,” said Chatime Malaysia’s group managing director Aliza Ali in a statement.
“Our decision to allow those affected outlets to return and re-operate under Chatime is made in regards to the overwhelming requests in light of the recent injunction granted by the court. Our doors are open to the employees and outlet owners who have found themselves in this precarious position today. They are our priority at the moment,” she continued.
Meanwhile, Loob Holding has filed for leave to appeal to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal’s decision.
“We have instructed our lawyers to seek leave to appeal to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal’s decision and the leave application was filed yesterday,” said Loob Holding.
On 7th July, Tealive shared on social media that all of its stores will remain open until further instruction from the court. Read the update HERE.
