Coffee maker Douwe Egberts has been bought by investment firm JAB Group for €7.5bn (£6.4bn).
The Joh A Benckiser Group, which previously owned a 15% stake in Douwe Egberts Master Blenders 1753, will keep the company’s headquarters in the Netherlands and keep its manufacturing facilities in the country open, it said.
“We are extremely pleased with our intended offer to acquire DE Master Blenders 1753,” said Bart Becht, chairman of JAB. “We believe DEMB has a very strong management team, fantastic brands and enormous expertise and potential in the coffee and tea categories.
“JAB and its partners intend to use DEMB as their platform for both organic growth as well as acquisitions in the fast-moving consumer goods coffee and tea categories.”
JAB said it backed DEMB’s intention to become the “leading pure-play coffee and tea company”, a strategy that will see it going after coffee giants such as Nestle and Mondelez International (formerly Kraft).
DEMB’s board has recommended the offer to shareholders and the companies will now seek regulatory approval for the deal.
DEMB reported sales of €2.7bn in its fiscal year 2012, with like-for-like sales up 9.5%.
Last year, JAB bought California-based Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Minnesota-based Caribou Coffee Company.
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