Dive Brief:
- Mondelez International and D.E. Master Blenders 1753 have proposed selling off the French coffee brand Carte Noire to appeal to EU regulators currently slowing down the deal.
- The combination of the two companies' coffee businesses would create the second-largest coffee company in the world, second only to Nestle.
- According to regulators, the merger could cause problems for sectors of the coffee industry in France, Denmark, Latvia, and Austria, especially.
Dive Insight:
Food Dive has been following the story between the two companies' coffee merger closely. In the deal Mondelez gave up its coffee brands, including Carte Noire, in exchange for $5 billion and a 49% stake in the new company, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, which also included D.E. Master Blenders' coffee brands. Not long after, Mondelez and D.E. Master Blenders announced a plan to potentially sell off two French coffee brands, L'Or and Grand Mere. Despite the concessions offered for approval of the deal, EU investigators began probing the merger at the end of last year. The sale of Carte Noire is the two companies' latest attempt to assuage the regulators' concerns about the merger.
Meanwhile, Keurig is looking to buy back its more than 50% stake in Lavazza, the latter of which was reportedly raising money for a L'Or and Grand Mere purchase.