Keurig Dr Pepper to buy Dutch coffee company JDE Peet’s in $18 billion deal

Keurig Dr Pepper will acquire Dutch coffee and tea company JDE Peet’s in a roughly $18 billion transaction, the two companies said Monday.

The deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Keurig Dr Pepper will pay JDE Peet’s shareholders 31.85 euros ($37.3) per share in cash, representing a 33% premium on the Dutch’s firm’s 90-day volume-weighted average stock price, which represents a total equity purchase of 15.7 billion euros ($18.4 billion). JDE Peet’s will, meanwhile, pay out a previously declared dividend of 0.36 euros per share prior to the deal closing.

Following the acquisition, Keurig Dr Pepper intends to split up its beverage and coffee units as two separate, U.S.-listed companies.

Such a step would effectively unwind the 2018 merger between Keurig and Dr Pepper Snapple, which at the time created the third-largest beverage company in North America with roughly $11 billion in annual revenues.

This breaking news story is being updated.