Keurig Dr Pepper to Acquire JDE Peet’s in $18.4 Billion Deal, Creating Coffee Powerhouse

U.S. beverage giant (KDP) has announced it will acquire Dutch coffee company JDE Peet’s in a deal worth €15.7 billion ($18.4 billion), marking the largest European corporate takeover in more than two years.

As part of the agreement, the combined businesses will split into two separate, publicly listed U.S. companies:

One focused exclusively on coffee, housing global brands such as Peet’s Coffee, Douwe Egberts, and L’Or.
The other centered on soft drinks, including household names like Schweppes, Snapple, and 7 Up.

Executives described the deal as a strategic move to create a “resilient and diversified” coffee powerhouse, capable of navigating global challenges such as volatile coffee bean prices and international trade tariffs.

“This is the right time for the transaction,” said KDP CEO Tim Cofer. However, the market reaction was less enthusiastic—KDP shares dropped more than 7% following the announcement, reflecting investor concerns that the move signals a departure from the original merger strategy that formed Keurig Dr Pepper in 2018, combining Dr Pepper’s soda business with Green Mountain Coffee.

At the time, the synergy between coffee and soft drink distribution was touted as a competitive advantage, though recent results suggest that promise has not fully materialized. Just last month, KDP executives acknowledged that growth in their coffee segment is expected to remain “subdued” due to rising tariffs and supply chain headwinds in their core U.S. market.

Under the new structure:

The soft drinks business will be headquartered in Texas and continue under the leadership of Tim Cofer.
The newly combined coffee company will be based in Massachusetts, boasting $16 billion in annual sales and supported by a global manufacturing network spanning more than 40 facilities.

JDE Peet’s was formed through the 2019 merger of Jacobs Douwe Egberts and Peet’s Coffee, and went public in 2020. But the company has struggled amid rising input costs, including severe droughts in Brazil and Vietnam that sent coffee bean prices soaring. Tensions with European retailers over price hikes also weighed on its performance, though most of those disputes have since been resolved.

The deal values JDE Peet’s shares at €31.85—roughly 20% above their pre-deal speculation price, but still below their 2020 IPO highs. That price surge benefits JAB Holding Company, the investment arm of the German Reimann family, which controls nearly 70% of the voting rights in JDE Peet’s and owns a 4% stake in Keurig Dr Pepper.

If approved, the acquisition will significantly reshape the global coffee landscape, positioning the new KDP-led coffee company as one of the largest players in the market—just as the industry undergoes rapid transformation and mounting cost pressures.