Caffé Bene will become the first Korean coffee chain to expand its business into the Persian Gulf after it signed a master franchise deal with Keden Group in Saudi Arabia, it said Wednesday.

A master franchise is an agreement whereby a franchisor sells the exclusive rights to the brand to a local company and receives brand royalties and commissions.

Caffé Bene and Keden Group aim to expand into Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the UAE, opening 100 outlets in the region in the next five years. Keden plans to open the first two stores in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.