Dutch coffee firm DE Master Blenders to merge with Jacobs

Dutch firm DE Master Blenders and the coffee arm of food group Mondelez International are being merged to create a new firm with annual revenue of over €5bn.

Jacobs Douwe Egberts will be based in the Netherlands and will be one of the biggest coffee firms in the world with operations in 25 countries.

DE Master Blenders was spun off by Sara Lee in 2012. It was bought by German investor Joh. A. Benckiser (JAB) and delisted last year.

Cash and shares

JAB subsidiary Acord Holdings has made an offer for Mondelez’ coffee activities in a cash and share deal. Mondelez will get €3.7bn in cash and 49% of the new firm.

DE Master Blenders said last November it is scrapping 110 jobs, mainly at its headquarters in Amsterdam. The company has a workforce of 7,000 worldwide, of which 2,200 are in the Netherlands.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nestlé will remain market leader even when Mondelez (currently number two) and DE Master Blenders (currently number three) have been combined.

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