JAB Holding, parent company of specialty coffee brands Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Stumptown Roasters, is considering taking its coffee division public.
The Germany-based parent company of Panera Bread said that the IPO offering would occur in a couple of years and would apply to its Acorn coffee and beverage division. That portfolio includes the $11 billion beverage empire Keurig Dr Pepper, which formed last year when Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple Group merged. Besides Peet’s and Stumptown, the Acorn portfolio also includes Chicago-based Intelligentsia and Mighty Leaf Tea.
“JAB has a very successful global Coffee and Beverages platform in Acorn, which includes Keurig Dr Pepper, Jacobs Douwe Egberts and Peet’s, and we are envisioning taking it public in the next 2-3 years,” the company said in a statement sent to Nation’s Restaurant News on Monday.
“A public listing would be in line with JAB’s long-term philosophy to bring leading global consumer businesses to the public markets,” the company said. “However, we have not made any decision to trigger an IPO process now.”
The Keurig Dr Pepper division, which already trades on the New York Stock Exchange, produces and licenses hot and cold beverage drinks including single-serve coffee pods. The portfolio includes Keurig, Dr Pepper, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Canada Dry, Snapple, Tully’s Coffee and The Original Donut Shop.
A JAB representative said Keurig Dr Pepper’s public company status “doesn’t change under any scenario” as JAB is one of a myriad of investors in the company.
“Only the shares owned by JAB would be part of any IPO,” JAB said.
JAB has been on a coffee buying spree for a few years. According to NRN’s Top 200 analysis, Panera Bread contributed $1.26 billion to JAB’s Latest-Year estimated U.S. foodservice revenue of $2.7 billion. That’s compared to Preceding-Year estimated U.S. revenue of $1.22 billion, and Prior-Year estimated revenue was $951.4 million.
For fiscal year 2017, Peet's company store sales were an estimated at $333.4 million, up 0.7% from the year before, according to NRN’s latest research. The company ended 2017 with 241 stores. NRN estimates store counts at the end of 2018 at 246 company locations.
The IPO plans come as JAB has made a few executive and portfolio changes since the start of the year.
In January, the company said senior partner Bart Becht, an integral player in JAB’s recent coffee sector buying spree, plans to step down as chairman this year.
JAB also created a new division, Pret Panera Holding Company, which includes Panera Bread, Pret a Manger, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Caribou Coffee. Jacek Szarzynski, a former Mars executive, was named lead operating partner for the new holding company earlier this year.
Alan Liddle contributed to this report.
Contact Nancy Luna at [email protected]
Follow her on Twitter: @FastFoodMaven
