By Tiffany Williams –
Keurig Dr Pepper announced Monday it will acquire Dutch coffee and tea company JDE Peet’s in a deal valued at roughly $18 billion.
Under the agreement, Keurig Dr Pepper will pay JDE Peet’s shareholders 31.85 euros ($37.3) per share in cash, representing a 33% premium over the Dutch company’s 90-day average stock price. The transaction amounts to a total equity purchase of 15.7 billion euros ($18.4 billion). JDE Peet’s will also distribute a previously declared dividend of 0.36 euros per share before the deal closes.
The acquisition is expected to result in Keurig Dr Pepper splitting its beverage and coffee operations into two separate, U.S.-listed companies. The move would effectively unwind the 2018 merger between Keurig and Dr Pepper Snapple, which created the third-largest beverage company in North America with about $11 billion in annual revenues.
The deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.