Diedrich Coffee Company

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.

Burned by its rapid expansion, Diedrich Coffee Inc. reported a $1.14-million fiscal fourth-quarter loss, and announced that Martin Diedrich is stepping down as chairman. The company, riding the wave of coffeehouse popularity, zoomed from 12 stores to 47 in the last year as it continued its expansion beyond its Orange County roots into Colorado and Texas.

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., looking to return to profitability after a year of severe growing pains, said Tuesday that former Taco Bell Chairman John Martin will become its chairman and invest $1 million in the 37-store chain. Martin also is bringing aboard former Sizzler USA and Taco Bell executive Tim Ryan as Diedrich's chief executive, a position that has been vacant since March.

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.

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.

A Toronto company that wound up with an 8% stake in Diedrich Coffee Inc. said Wednesday in a filing with regulators that it has reduced its stake in the Irvine coffeehouse chain to 6.8%. Second Cup Ltd. said in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it sold 190,000 Diedrich shares between Dec. 1 and Jan. 18 at prices ranging from 41 cents to $1.31 a share. Second Cup had acquired its stake last year by selling its 69% interest in Coffee People Inc.

Diedrich Coffee Inc., the Irvine-based coffee roaster and retailer, received a Nasdaq determination Friday that the company's stock is out of compliance with Nasdaq's minimum net tangible assets requirement. On Friday, the company also reported a net income of $163,577, or 1 cent per share, for the 12 weeks ended Dec. 13, 2000. That was down 73% from a profit of $599,028, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier. Its latest fiscal second-quarter revenue rose by 1.4%, to $19.4 million.

Diedrich Coffee Inc. said Wednesday that it will cut in half the estimated restructuring charges it had planned to take this quarter because improved performance at some stores has taken them off the list of those targeted for closure. The Irvine coffeehouse chain operator said in a press release that it will record a charge of $700,000 to $900,000 for its fiscal third quarter, which ends March 7, instead of the original estimate of $1.8 million to $2 million.

Diedrich Coffee Inc., the struggling coffeehouse chain, said Thursday that several investment funds have agreed to invest a total of $6 million for new shares of the company's stock. The Irvine company, in an effort to prevent its shares from being delisted, also said it plans to ask shareholders to approve a 1-for-3 reverse stock split. The infusion comes from an investment group led by Westcliff Capital Management and that includes a fund managed by Diedrich Chairman Paul C.

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.

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.

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.

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 of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 86. As patriarch of the family business, Diedrich, who died July 31, 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 Starbucks' 3,300 outlets.