Keurig Sold for $13.9 Billion to Private Equity Firm This is the latest in a string of coffee deals by investment group JAB as it seeks to become a formidable competitor to Nestle.
By CNBC Staff •
This story originally appeared on CNBC
Personal beverage system company Keurig Green Mountain has agreed to be taken private by an investor group led by JAB Holding for $92 a share in cash.
The companies value the total equity of the deal at about $13.9 billion, and represents a premium of approximately 77.9 percent over Keurig's closing stock price on December 4.
The agreement was unanimously approved by Keurig's board of directors. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.
This is the latest in a string of coffee deals by JAB as it seeks to become a formidable competitor to Nestle, which operates the world's biggest coffee business.
JAB formed a joint venture in July called Jacobs Douwe Egberts — now the largest pure-play coffee company — by combining its D.E. Master Blenders 1753 business with the coffee business of Mondelez International.
Billionaire investor David Einhorn said in an Oct. 21 letter he had re-entered a short position on Keurig at $102.08 a share as of the third quarter.
Greenlight Capital — Einhorn's hedge fund — declined CNBC's request for comment.
Einhorn had previously shorted the stock in 2011, citing accounting concerns. He closed out that short November 2014, calling it "ultimately unsuccessful" although he still stood by his accounting concerns.
— CNBC's Kate Kelly and Reuters contributed to this report.
