DE Master Blenders 1753 $5 billion merger with Mondelēz coffee business

Overview:

• DE Master Blenders 1753 and Mondelēz's coffee business have merged.
• The deal sees Mondelēz receive €3.8 billion in cash and a 44% stake in the new company.
• Acorn Holdings (the owner of DE Master Blenders) will own the remaining 56% stake.
• The combined company will be the second largest coffee company in the world and will be called Jacobs Douwe Egberts and will be based in the Netherlands.
• It has estimated sales of $7 billion per annum and owns brands including Carte Noire, Douwe Egberts, Jacobs, Kenco, Millicano and Tassimo.
• Acorn Holdings is owned by an investor group led by JAB Holdings, the investment arm of the Reimann family.
• The group acquired Master Blenders in 2014 for €7.5 billion.
• Master Blenders was advised by Lazard, BDT Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. JAB worked with Bank of America and Morgan Stanley. Mondelēz was advised by Perella Weinberg Partners and Centerview Partners.
• JPMorgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley acted as arrangers on the acquisition finance.

Sam Duke - Editor