Diedrich Coffee

Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc., the Bay Area-based cafe chain, is going private for $977.6 million - but it's not being sold to Starbucks, its giant Seattle rival. Instead, German conglomerate Joh. A. Benckiser will shell out $73.50 a share to buy the Emeryville company, paying a 29% premium on Friday's $57.16 closing price. Peet's had just under 200 stores as of this spring. Last spring, Peet's and Starbucks were rumored to be in talks to combine in an effort to boost both brands' presence in grocery stores.

Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc., the Bay Area-based cafe chain, is going private for $977.6 million - but it's not being sold to Starbucks, its giant Seattle rival. Instead, German conglomerate Joh. A. Benckiser will shell out $73.50 a share to buy the Emeryville company, paying a 29% premium on Friday's $57.16 closing price. Peet's had just under 200 stores as of this spring. Last spring, Peet's and Starbucks were rumored to be in talks to combine in an effort to boost both brands' presence in grocery stores.

Irvine-based coffee roaster and distributor Diedrich Coffee Inc. has agreed to be acquired by Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. for about $213 million in cash and stock. The Emeryville, Calif., gourmet coffee retailer, which announced the acquisition after the stock market closed Monday, valued the transaction at $26 for each Diedrich share. That's 28% above Diedrich's closing price Monday of $20.36 a share -- and more than 85 times the stock's low of 30 cents reached last December. In after-hours trading, Diedrich shares soared to more than $25 a share.

Diedrich Coffee Inc., the Irvine coffee wholesaler, has agreed to be acquired by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. The $290-million, or $35-a-share, merger agreement ended a nearly two-month bidding war with rival Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. The bidding war started last month with a $213-million stock and cash offer from Peet's, which dropped out Monday, leaving Green Mountain in a position to close the deal. Green Mountain will pay Peet's $8.5 million to terminate an earlier merger agreement with Diedrich.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. of Irvine reported a net loss of $1.8 million, or 29 cents a share, for the nine weeks ended June 30, an abbreviated period as the company modified its fiscal year. For the 13-week second quarter last year, the company lost $761,000, or 13 cents a share. Revenue was $4.3 million, compared with $6 million for the prior-year period. Diedrich moved the end of its fiscal year to June from January in connection with its acquisition last month of Coffee People Inc.

A takeover battle for an Orange County coffee roaster has turned downright frothy, with major rivals Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. trading bids and barbs. At stake is Diedrich Coffee Inc. of Irvine and a large chunk of business selling coffee cartridges, or pods. The fight has already pushed the price to $290 million from $213 million last month. And another bidding deadline is today. These single-use ground coffee pods fit into the popular Keurig single-cup brewers sold in department stores and household goods suppliers such as Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. of Irvine said Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.'s $265-million all-cash takeover offer was superior to a stock-and-cash bid from Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. Peet's proposal to buy Diedrich reverted to the Nov. 2 offer of $26 a share, or about $213 million, after an improved bid of $30.35 a share, or about $251 million, expired Wednesday. Green Mountain, of Waterbury, Vt., raised its bid to $32 a share Tuesday, from $30. The companies are vying for Diedrich's K-Cup business, which makes single-serving coffee pods used in Green Mountain's Keurig brewing equipment.

Diedrich Coffee Inc., moving to secure the No. 2 ranking behind industry giant Starbucks Corp., said it has completed its acquisition of Coffee People Inc. for $23 million cash and 1.5 million shares of Diedrich stock. Second Cup Ltd., which owned 70% of Coffee People, received cash and a stake of about 8.5%, or about 1 million shares, in Diedrich Coffee.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. reported a net loss of $5.4 million, or $1 a share, for the first quarter ended April 30, which included a onetime charge of $4.6 million from restructuring costs and store closings. A year ago, the operator of coffeehouses posted net income of $107,113. Sales advanced 37% to $5.9 million from $4.3 million. The company closed three coffeehouses during the first quarter and plans to close 12 under-performing outlets during fiscal 1998.

Carl Diedrich, a German-born vagabond whose modest coffee-roasting business gave rise to the international Diedrich Coffee chain, died at his Costa Mesa home recently of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 86. As patriarch of the family business, Diedrich oversaw the birth of a chain of more than 370 of the signature red-and-gold coffeehouses in 37 states and 11 other countries--a distant second behind the now-ubiquitous 3,300 Starbucks outlets.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. looks to have won a bidding war to buy Diedrich Coffee Inc., the Irvine coffee roaster. Rival bidder Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. said Monday that it would not raise its bid for Diedrich. That leaves Green Mountain's all-cash offer of $290 million, or $35 a share. Just a year ago, Diedrich shares sold for 30 cents. Peet's started the bidding war last month with a $213-million stock and cash offer. It made its latest announcement after the stock market closed Monday.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. agreed to buy Diedrich Coffee Inc. for about $290 million in cash, trumping a competing offer by Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. for the maker of single-serving coffee packets. Green Mountain, based in Waterbury, Vt., is offering Diedrich investors $35 a share, Diedrich said in a statement today. Chairman Paul Heeschen and executives owning more than 32% of Irvinea-based Diedrich's stock support Green Mountain's offer. The accord is set to end a bidding contest between Green Mountain and Peet's to secure the company's profitable K- Cup business.

A takeover battle for an Orange County coffee roaster has turned downright frothy, with major rivals Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. trading bids and barbs. At stake is Diedrich Coffee Inc. of Irvine and a large chunk of business selling coffee cartridges, or pods. The fight has already pushed the price to $290 million from $213 million last month. And another bidding deadline is today. These single-use ground coffee pods fit into the popular Keurig single-cup brewers sold in department stores and household goods suppliers such as Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Peet's again raises its bid for Diedrich Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. raised its bid to buy Diedrich Coffee Inc. of Irvine for a second time to $32.50 a share, topping the latest offer from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. Peet's, of Emeryville, Calif., and Green Mountain, of Waterbury, Vt., are vying for Diedrich's K-Cup business, which makes prepackaged single-serving coffee used in Green Mountain's Keurig brewing equipment. AUTOS U.S. may toughen side air bag rules New cars and trucks could be required to have larger and stronger side air bags to prevent motorists from being tossed out of vehicles during rollover crashes.

Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. raised its bid to buy Diedrich Coffee Inc., the maker of single-serve coffee packets, for the second time to $32.50 a share, topping the latest offer from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. Peet's boosted the cash portion of its bid to a range of $21.26 to $22.87, plus 0.321 share of its own stock, for each Diedrich share, the Emeryville, Calif.-based company said. The offer totals $32.50 a share at any price of Peet's stock from $30 to $35. Last week, Peet's offered as much as $32 a share, including $19.80 in cash, while Green Mountain raised its bid to $32 a share in cash, or $265 million.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. of Irvine said Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc.'s $265-million all-cash takeover offer was superior to a stock-and-cash bid from Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. Peet's proposal to buy Diedrich reverted to the Nov. 2 offer of $26 a share, or about $213 million, after an improved bid of $30.35 a share, or about $251 million, expired Wednesday. Green Mountain, of Waterbury, Vt., raised its bid to $32 a share Tuesday, from $30. The companies are vying for Diedrich's K-Cup business, which makes single-serving coffee pods used in Green Mountain's Keurig brewing equipment.

Diedrich Coffee Inc., the Irvine coffee wholesaler, has agreed to be acquired by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. The $290-million, or $35-a-share, merger agreement ended a nearly two-month bidding war with rival Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. The bidding war started last month with a $213-million stock and cash offer from Peet's, which dropped out Monday, leaving Green Mountain in a position to close the deal. Green Mountain will pay Peet's $8.5 million to terminate an earlier merger agreement with Diedrich.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. looks to have won a bidding war to buy Diedrich Coffee Inc., the Irvine coffee roaster. Rival bidder Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. said Monday that it would not raise its bid for Diedrich. That leaves Green Mountain's all-cash offer of $290 million, or $35 a share. Just a year ago, Diedrich shares sold for 30 cents. Peet's started the bidding war last month with a $213-million stock and cash offer. It made its latest announcement after the stock market closed Monday.

Irvine-based coffee roaster and distributor Diedrich Coffee Inc. has agreed to be acquired by Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. for about $213 million in cash and stock. The Emeryville, Calif., gourmet coffee retailer, which announced the acquisition after the stock market closed Monday, valued the transaction at $26 for each Diedrich share. That's 28% above Diedrich's closing price Monday of $20.36 a share -- and more than 85 times the stock's low of 30 cents reached last December. In after-hours trading, Diedrich shares soared to more than $25 a share.

Re "Starbucks' 'venti' problem," Current, March 4 Most coffee addicts I know were not shaken by the recent memo from Starbucks Corp. founder and Chairman Howard Schultz about the Starbucks experience. We were shaken years ago, when Starbucks diluted the quality control on the one thing that matters to us -- good coffee. Like Daniel Gross, I favor the doppio espresso, which, in Starbucks' early years, had a perfect crema and a lovely cherry aftertaste. But when Starbucks changed the beans and went from hand-pulled to automatic brewing, the espresso became just bitter coffee.