Keurig Green Mountain Acquired by Coffee Conglomerate for $13.9 Billion

Photo by Mike Mozart on Flickr/Creative Commons

Keurig Green Mountain has been acquired by the world’s largest coffee conglomerate for $13.9 billion, joining a portfolio of brands that includes Peet’s, Douwe Egberts, Caribou Coffee, and Stumptown Coffee Roasters.

The Waterbury, Vermont-based company reached the deal Monday with an investor group that included JAB Holdings, a private German controlled by four billionaire siblings. In addition to coffee, JAB also owns Jimmy Choo and perfume maker Coty.

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for Keurig Green Mountain, which saw its stock lose 70 percent of its value in 2015. The company unveiled its next-generation brewing machine, which only uses officially licensed K-cup pods, drawing the ire of consumers and lawsuits from third-party K-cup makers alleging anti-competitive practices.

Keurig Green Mountain will be yanked from the NASDAQ and privately owned, though it will remain operating independently and keep its Vermont headquarters.