German investor Joh A Benckiser (JAB) is to purchase the owner of Douwe Egberts coffee in a 7.5 billion euro ($9.8 billion) deal to create a global hot drinks empire aimed at taking on market leaders Nestle and Mondelez International.D.E Master Blenders 1753, the Dutch owner of Douwe Egberts coffee and Pickwick tea, said on Friday it had reached conditional agreement on a 12.50 euros per share cash takeover offer from a group of investors led by JAB.JAB, the investment vehicle of the billionaire Reimann family, has been building a hot drinks business in a bid to tap strong growth driven by new products, such as single-serve coffee brewers, and demand from emerging markets.It owns Caribou Coffee Co Inc and Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc in the United States, and has had its eye for some time on D.E Master Blenders, which has a strong position in Europe.
Mondelez International, Inc. (Mondelez International), formerly Kraft Foods Inc. Shares of MDLZ traded higher by 0.68% or $0.205/share to $30.55. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $24.50 and as high as $42.54. On average, 13431700 shares of MDLZ exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 7719032.
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