Peet’s Coffee Sells To German Conglomerate For Nearly $1 Billion

It’s been rumored for quite some time that California-based Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. was up for sale, and many people have been sipping on their beverages, waiting for the seemingly inevitable announcement that Starbucks would be the buyer. And then comes today’s news that Peet’s has been purchased for $977.6 million, not by Daddy Starbucks, but by German conglomerate Joh. A. Benckiser.

So instead of going to the huge company it helped foster 40 years ago by selling its beans to, Peet’s will be owned by a European business known more for its ownership of beauty companies like Coty and luxury goods business Labelux.

This puts Peet’s under the same umbrella as Jimmy Choo and OPI nail polish.

It will be another three months or so before the deal is finalized, but the L.A. Times reports that the company’s current management will continue to run the 46-year-old business out of its Berkeley-area offices.

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