By Mateusz Rabiega
(Reuters) -U.S. soft drinks giant Keurig Dr Pepper is set to create a global coffee giant to rival market leader Nestle with an $18 billion takeover of JDE Peet’s, Europe’s largest acquisition in more than two years.
The deal, announced on Monday and offering a 20% premium to JDE Peet’s closing market price on Friday, proposes splitting the merged entity’s coffee operations and other beverage businesses into two separate publicly U.S.-listed companies, as the Dutch company would be delisted from the Amsterdam stock exchange.
The transaction, which comes as the global trade war intensifies corporate action in the consumer goods sector, aims to create $400 million in annual cost savings, allowing the new entities to better fare against rising U.S. tariffs against coffee-producing nations and other trade rivals.
“The new Coffee entity will be somewhat similar in size to the coffee business of Nestlé… The two would each have a market share of around 20% in the global CPG (coffee and tea consumer packaged goods) coffee market” ING analysts Maxime Stranart told Reuters.
The deal comes amid record high prices for global coffee, driven by droughts in top producers Brazil and Vietnam and following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 50% duties on beans imported from Brazil.
“Rolling the two coffee businesses together makes sense, reducing the European-centric and commoditised nature of most of JDE Peet’s business, and giving Keurig international exposure,” said Jon Cox of Kepler Cheuvreux.
POST-CLOSE SEPARATION
The transaction announced on Monday would partly reverse a 2018 merger that created Keurig Dr Pepper by combining Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple, allowing investors to focus on one single segment rather than a bundle of diverse products.
The new entities, called Beverage Co., and Global Coffee Co., will be led by Keurig’s CEO Cofer and CFO Sudhanshu Priyadarshi, respectively.
Keurig said that Global Coffee Co., with around $16 billion in combined annual net sales, will be well positioned to profit from the world’s $400 billion coffee market, while Beverage Co., with more than $11 billion in yearly net sales, will focus on North America’s $300 billion refreshment beverage market.
Shares of JDE Peet’s surged 18% in early trading, marking their strongest day on record, while Frankfurt-listed shares of Keurig Dr Pepper fell 1.3% as of 1057 GMT.
JDE Peet’s, with brands including Jacobs, L’Or, Tassimo and Douwe Egberts, was valued at 12.76 billion euros at Friday’s market close, while Keurig’s worth stood at around $48 billion, according to LSEG data.
Its shares have risen nearly 10% this year on strong beverage sales, while the Dutch coffee maker’s almost doubled, supported by stable revenues and focus shift towards shareholders’ remuneration.
JDE Peet’s is majority-owned by Germany’s JAB, which also holds a significant minority stake in Keurig Dr Pepper, according to LSEG data.
($1 = 0.8544 euros)
(Reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru and Mateusz Rabiega in Gdansk; Additional reporting by Mathieu Rosemain in Paris and Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt; Editing by Stephen Coates, Kirsten Donovan, Lisa Jucca and Louise Heavens)
