EUROPE: Lavazza acquires Douwe Egberts’ Carte Noire brand for 800 million euros | Progresiv
Lavazza has agreed to acquire premium French coffee brand Carte Noire from Douwe Egberts in a deal reportedly worth 800 million euros. The deal will treble the Italian company’s turnover in France and make the country its second largest market after Italy. The transaction includes Carte Noire’s roast and ground coffee, filter pads and Nespresso-compatible capsules businesses, as well as its production facility near Montpellier. 
The move is the latest in a series of examples of Lavazza picking up brands being culled from DE Master Blenders’ portfolio, with European authorities overseeing the sale of assets as a condition of the Dutch company’s merger with Mondelēz, which we first reported on back in May 2014.
In January, Lavazza paid 600 million euros to acquire French coffee brands L’Or and Grande’Mèreand added Danish roaster Merrild in June this year. Meanwhile, Mondelēz sold its 50% stake in Japanese coffee manufacturer Ajinomoto General Foods, as it prepared to merge its coffee business with that of DE Master Blenders and form a joint business with annual sales of more than $7bn.
Chief executive Antonio Baravalle claimed that Lavazza “will reach a leadership position in France, the fourth global coffee market and the second in Europe” with this new deal. Reuters reported yesterday that the reported value of the transaction was 11.5 times the annual turnover of the Carte Noire brand, which was attracting the interest of several private equity groups before Lavazza’s bid won out. (www.foodbev.com)
