American producer of soft drinks, tea, coffee, as well as coffee machines and components Keurig Dr Pepper is close to acquiring European coffee producer JDE Peet’s for $18bn, The Wall Street Journal reports citing informed sources.
According to the sources, the agreement could be officially announced as early as Monday.
JDE Peet’s is traded in Amsterdam and had a market capitalisation of about $15bn at the close of trading on Friday. It produces coffee under the Douwe Egberts and Kenco brands and owns the Peet’s Coffee chain.
Sources say that after the deal is completed, Keurig Dr Pepper may split into two companies – one will focus on the coffee business and the other on soft drinks.
Keurig Dr Pepper has a capitalisation of $47 billion. The company emerged in 2018 from the merger of Keurig Green Mountain, which made coffee and coffee machines, and Dr Pepper Snapple, which made soda.
JAB Holding Co. group, which was behind the merger, still holds a large minority stake in Keurig Dr Pepper and is also the controlling shareholder of JDE Peet’s.