Topline
Keurig Dr Pepper announced it will acquire coffee and tea firm JDE Peet’s in a deal worth around $18.3 billion, and the combined entity will then split its coffee and beverage businesses, in a move that comes amid rising coffee bean prices due to tariffs.
After the merger Dr Pepper and other soft drink brands owned by Keurig Dr Pepper will be split from the coffee business.
Getty Images
Key Facts
According to Keurig Dr Pepper’s announcement, the acquisition is an all-cash deal where the beverage giant will pay JDE Peet’s shareholders $37.22 per share—a 20% premium over the coffee company’s closing price on Friday.
After the deal is complete, Keurig Dr Pepper’s coffee brands—including its single-serve K-Cup pods—and JDE Peet’s brand will be spun off into a new publicly listed entity.
The split would leave Keurig Dr Pepper’s beverage brands like Dr Pepper, 7UP, Sunkist, Snapple, A&W and others as a separate business, which will also be publicly traded.
Keurig’s CEO Tim Cofer will take over as the chief of the beverage business, while its CFO Sudhanshu Priyadarshi will lead the spun-off coffee unit.
How Have The Markets Reacted To The Deal?
In premarket trading early on Monday, Keurig’s shares are down 3.91% to $33.76. JDE Peet’s Amsterdam-listed shares surged to $36.40 after the announcement, rising 17.33% from Friday’s close.
What Do We Know About Keurig Dr Pepper’s Previous Deals?
Keurig Dr Pepper’s plan to split its coffee business from its soft drink beverage business will undo a merger that took place in 2018, following an $18.7 billion cash deal where Keurig Green Mountain acquired the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. The splitting of the two businesses is likely the result of a slowdown in the U.S. coffee sales this year and lingering tariff impacts.
What Have The Two Companies Said About Tariff Impacts?
Both companies have warned that President Donald Trump’s sweeping 50% tariffs on Brazilian imports are likely to affect their prices. During Keurig Dr Pepper’s most recent earnings call, CEO Cofer warned, “The tariff impacts will become prominent.” Amid concerns about rising coffee bean prices, Keurig ran a promotion in June called a “Price Lock Event,” which urged customers to sign up for its auto-delivery subscription service and “lock in” their prices till the end of 2025. During a quarterly earnings call last month, JDE Peet’s CEO Rafael Oliveira told analysts that his company may have to raise U.S. prices due to Trump’s tariffs, but added the direct impact of the levies on the company would be small. Oliveira noted that Brazilian coffee accounts for less than 30% of the company’s usage.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2025/08/25/keurig-dr-pepper-slides-in-premarket-after-announcing-18-billion-jde-peets-acquisition/
