“For the last 20 years, I’ve spent 20 percent of my time telling people what we’ve done to grow<br />and another 20 percent of my time telling people what we’re going to do to grow,” Mr. Shaich said in an interview.<br />A Coffee Empire Grows, as Panera is Sold to JAB Holding Company -<br />By STEPHANIE STROM and CHAD BRAYAPRIL 5, 2017<br />LONDON — Over the last several years, a European family business has spent more than $40 billion assembling a coffee empire.<br />On Wednesday, JAB, which is privately held, said it would add the Panera restaurant chain to<br />its growing empire of American coffee and food favorites for $7.5 billion, including debt.<br />“These guys have a track record for investing in great brands and companies and letting management do their jobs.”<br />Under the terms of the transaction, JAB BV, the investment vehicle executing the transaction for JAB, would pay $315 a share, representing a premium of 30 percent<br />to Panera’s 30-day volume-weighted average stock price as of March 31, the last trading day before media reports that Panera was exploring a potential sale.<br />Ron Shaich, Panera’s personable chief executive who controls roughly 15 percent of its stock, said<br />one of the biggest attractions to the JAB deal was the chance to take his company private.
