Krispy Kreme to Be Taken Over by Coffee Giant

Krispy Kreme shareholders were given a caffeine boost on Monday after JAB Beech the coffee giant announced it was acquiring the doughnut maker.

The investment firm based in Luxembourg, which owns Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Caribou Coffee and Keurig Green Mountain said it was taking the doughnut company, based in North Carolina, private in a deal that was worth over $1.35 billion.

Stock at Krispy Kreme soared over 24% in late afternoon trading.

This deal comes after a JAB Holdings affiliated recently added to the coffee empire through its Keurig acquisition, which makes the single cup countertop coffee makers.

JAB Holdings, which is owned almost entirely by the Reimann family from Europe, also has shares in Jacobs Douwe Egberts, which is the company behind Gevalia, Tassio as well as other brands.

Besides coffee, JAB Holdings holds stakes in Einstein Noah the operator of bagel shops, Coty the maker of beauty products and Jimmy Choo the seller of high end shoes.

The two companies said that Krispy Kreme would continue as an independently operated business from its Winston-Salem, North Carolina headquarters.

Krispy Kreme, which was founded during 1937, has over 1,100 shops across the globe with close to 300 of them located in the U.S.

For its 2017 fiscal year, Krispy Kreme said during March that it was planning to open between 120 and 140 new locations outside the U.S. as well as close to 30 new locations in the U.S.

Unlike Dunkin’ Donuts its bigger rival, Krispy Kreme locations in the U.S. receive the majority of their business from sales of doughnuts and other types of pastries, instead of different coffee drinks along with sandwiches.

However, Krispy Kreme said that it wanted to increase its sales of beverages.

JAP senior partner Peter Harf said that the Krispy Kreme acquisition is part of JAB’s strategy of investing in different brands that have significant prospects for growth.

JAB Beech will pay a price of $21 per share of Krispy Kreme stock, which represents a premium of approximately 25% to the Friday price at closing.

The board of directors at Krispy Kreme approved of the transaction unanimously, which is scheduled to close during the third quarter of this year.

The company announced that it would postpone its annual meeting for shareholders set originally to be held June 14.

Shares of Krispy Kreme were up 24.1% in Monday afternoon trading and have increased by close to 20% over the last 12 months.