Diedrich Coffee Company

The Irvine office of Diedrich Coffee's "chief coffee officer" looks like the dorm room of an overenthusiastic World Cultures major. The couch has the rump-feel of a garage-sale bargain. A travel poster of a Mayan ruin hangs on one wall. A miniature hand-painted Costa Rican oxcart sits beside his desk.

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., 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.

Longtime Orange County fixture Diedrich Coffee Inc. said Thursday that it would sell its company-owned stores to Starbucks Corp. to focus on wholesaling coffee to restaurant chains, specialty stores and offices. The Irvine-based company will get $13.5 million for 40 Diedrich and Coffee People cafes. Most of the Diedrich outlets are in Orange and Los Angeles counties, and the Coffee People stores are in the Portland, Ore., area.

Shares for Diedrich Coffee Inc. fell more than 15% on Thursday, the day after the Irvine-based company sold 4.6 million shares in a secondary offering priced at $6--more than 14% below its Wednesday closing price of $7. The regional coffeehouse chain netted $23.3 million in the offering, which will be used to help pay for its approximately $32-million acquisition of Coffee People Inc., a Castroville-based specialty coffee chain.

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.

In its third aggressive expansion maneuver in six months, Diedrich Coffee Inc. agreed Tuesday to buy Coffee People Inc. for about $34 million in cash and stock from its majority owner, Second Cup Ltd. of Toronto. The deal would create a company with 364 outlets--including 76 coffeehouses--in 38 U.S. states and seven foreign countries. Second Cup, which will retain 369 coffee "cafes" across Canada, remains North America's second-biggest coffeehouse chain, trailing Seattle's Starbucks Corp.

El Torito Restaurants Inc. said Thursday it will begin selling Diedrich coffee in its restaurants by May. Irvine-based Diedrich Coffee Inc. said the new supply agreement is in keeping with its plan to aggressively expand its wholesale division. "We can penetrate markets where we don't necessarily have coffeehouses yet," said Catherine Saar, vice president of marketing and wholesale for Diedrich.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. said Tuesday that a financing company will provide $6.3 million in new capital to help relaunch its national expansion. Los Angeles-based Franchise Mortgage Acceptance Corp., which provides financing for restaurant chains and other companies, paid $1.3 million for 200,000 Diedrich shares and agreed to loan the company up to $5 million. As part of the alliance, Franchise Mortgage also will provide mortgage financing to Diedrich franchisees.

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.

Shareholders of Diedrich Coffee Inc. have approved a sale of about 40 company-owned cafes in California, Colorado and Texas to Starbucks Corp. for $13.5 million.

Diedrich Coffee Inc., which recently agreed to sell its company-owned stores to Starbucks, said its loss for the fiscal fourth quarter widened, in part because of costs related to boosting its wholesale operations. The loss for the quarter ended June 28 widened to $3.1 million, or 59 cents a share, from $1 million, or 20 cents, a year ago. Results from a year earlier were helped by a tax benefit of $1.9 million. Revenue rose to $18.3 million from $16.

Longtime Orange County fixture Diedrich Coffee Inc. said Thursday that it would sell its company-owned stores to Starbucks Corp. to focus on wholesaling coffee to restaurant chains, specialty stores and offices. The Irvine-based company will get $13.5 million for 40 Diedrich and Coffee People cafes. Most of the Diedrich outlets are in Orange and Los Angeles counties, and the Coffee People stores are in the Portland, Ore., area.

Shares of Diedrich Coffee Inc. appeared as hot as the steaming lattes and cappuccinos served in the Irvine company's chain of coffeehouses for a brief time over the last month. Although the stock has since cooled, what's left of the gain represents a striking turnaround for the perennial Starbucks wannabe that nearly went out of business this year after a series of missteps left it with excessive debt.

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.

Diedrich Coffee Inc., stepping up its nationwide expansion effort, said Tuesday it has signed a franchise agreement to open 50 coffeehouses in Kentucky and Tennessee. Financial terms of the arrangement with Cumblerland Coffee Co. were not disclosed. The latest agreement give Irvine-based Diedrich five franchise pacts to open as many as 422 stores over the next five to seven years. Last week, the company signed a similar agreement with a franchise company to open 80 shops in the Los Angeles area.

Coffeehouse chain Diedrich Coffee Inc. said Monday its president and chief executive, J. Michael Jenkins, has begun treatment for recently diagnosed gastric cancer, but that doctors believe he will be able to continue working. Jenkins, who underwent surgery, expects to return to work full time after Labor Day, the company said. The announcement came after the close of regular U.S. trading hours. The stock was off 22 cents to $3.27 in Nasdaq trading.