The company that owns Panera, Krispy Kreme, and Peet’s is welcoming British sandwich chain Pret A Manger to the family with a £1,000 bonus ($1,323) for each of its employees.
Pret CEO Clive Schlee announced the bonuses on Twitter (TWTR) as the chain released a statement confirming that JAB, the Luxembourg-based investment vehicle for Germany’s billionaire Reimann family, agreed to acquire it from the equity firm Bridgepoint Advisers, Pret’s owner since 2008.
https://twitter.com/Cliveschlee/status/1001385588312952833
The statement didn’t specify the size of the deal, but it’s estimated at around £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion). Bridgepoint Advisers paid £350 million (about $463 million) for the chain in 2008. Pret’s 530 stores worldwide generate £879 million in revenue ($1.1 billion).
In the last five years, JAB has built up the world’s second-largest coffee business with supermarket brands like Keurig Green Mountain, and Douwe Egberts as well as luxury coffee houses including Peet’s Coffee, Peet’s subsidiary Stumptown Coffee Roasters, and Caribou Coffee. Although it’s best known for its ready-to-eat meals, Pret emphasizes its organic coffee offer in marketing materials and even in its logo.
About three quarters of Pret’s shops are in the U.K. There are 90 stores in U.S. cities, the majority of which are in New York. The deal is expected to close later this summer.