JAB-controlled Keurig to buy Pepper Snapple to form beverage giant

[January 29, 2018]  (Reuters) - K-cup maker Keurig Green Mountain Inc will buy soda maker Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc <DPS.N> to form a beverage company with $11 billion in annual revenue.

A single-serve Keurig Green Mountain brewing machine is seen before dispensing coffee in New York February 6, 2015. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Dr Pepper Snapple shareholders will be paid a special cash dividend of $103.75 per share and will own 13 percent of the combined company, which will be called Keurig Dr Pepper.

Germany's JAB Holding Company, which owns a controlling stake in Keurig, will own the remaining 87 percent of Keurig Dr Pepper.

JAB said it would make an equity investment of $9 billion to finance the transaction.

Shares of Dr Pepper were up nearly 37 percent in premarket trade at $131.

Goldman Sachs served as lead financial adviser to Keurig and Credit Suisse served as financial adviser to Dr Pepper Snapple for the deal.

(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale and Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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