The sandwich and coffee chain Pret a Manger is being sold to JAB Holdings. The staff will receive £1,000 each once the sale is completed.
The company Pret a Manger, which is under the private equity ownership of Bridgepoint, will be sold to JAB Holdings, a company based in Luxembourg.
The entire amount of money paid by JAB was not made public, although one report estimated that the value of this deal is about £1.5bn.
The first Pret a Manger store was opened in London back in 1986. Later on, in 2008, the chain was sold to Bridgepoint for about £350m.
During this period, the chain expanded internationally and opened stores in France, China, the US and Hong Kong. It has more than 530 stores worldwide and the revenues are estimated at up to £880m. The sale is prone to be completed by the end of this summer.
“The £1,000 bonus will be paid to all employees who are on the payroll during the week the deal completes. It’s serendipity for those who have just joined,” mentioned Clive Schlee, chief executive of Pret a Manger.
William Jackson, who is both managing partner of Bridgepoint and chairman of Pret, said that “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved over the last 10 years with Pret and its management team.”
As far as JAB is concerned, it is known that they are the investment vehicle of the Reimann family and they have developed the second-largest coffee business in the world during the past 5 years. Espresso House, Peet’s, Douwe Egberts and Kenco are only a few names of chains, respectively packaged brands that JAB controls.
Worth mentioning is also that last year Jollibee, the Philippine fast food chain, was interested in buying Pret, but eventually, no offer was made.
