Sandwich and coffeeshops Pret A Manger sold for £1.5bn

The UK Private Equity Group Bridgepoint, owner of Pret a Manger, has agreed to sell their sandwich shop chain for £1.5bn inclusive of debt to JAB Holdings, the German family-owned investment group challenging Nestle with its rapid acquisition of companies linked to the coffee market.

Bridgepoint initially paid only £ 364m including debt to buy the business back in 2007. The new deal advised by JP Morgan, is the latest in a series of coffee and drinks focused acquisitions by JAB, the Luxemburg based investment vehicle that manages the fortune of Gemany’s reclusive Reimann family, values Pret and its 530 stores worldwide at about 15 times earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization, and had revenues of £879m.

In January 2018, it announced a deal to take control of Snapple and Dr Pepper the fifth largest global fizzy drinks maker, for $18.7bn cash and combine it with Keurig Green Mountain coffee business.

Announcing the sale , Clive Schlee, the CEO of Pret A Manger, said his company had achieved a ninth consecutive year of like-for-like sales growth in 2017., with its 12, 000 employees getting £1000 each when the deal is completed.

Pret A Manger, founded in 1986, as a single shop in London, and expanded across the world including US where it has 92 shops. JAB, the Krispy Kreme owner is now number two behind Switzerland’s Nestle in terms of market share.