Page 25 - atoday

BUSINESS A25
Tuesday 8 December 2015

Keurig, maker of single-cup coffee machines, is being sold

JOSEPH PISANI Fans of Keurig may not see Egberts, the company be- chan, in a note to clients. filled pods that are used in
AP Business Writer much of a difference in hind Gevalia, Tassimo and He also said that JAB Hold- Keurig’s machines. Sales of
NEW YORK (AP) — The bat- their caffeine fix. JAB Hold- many other brands. It also ing may try to sell more K-cups, which accounted
tle over the world’s coffee ing said Keurig will operate has stakes in Peet’s Coffee Keurig brewing machines for more than 80 percent
drinkers is getting hotter. independently and remain & Tea and Caribou Coffee, internationally. of Keurig’s revenue, rose 1
Keurig, the maker of single- in its headquarters in Wa- two companies that al- Outside of coffee, JAB Hold- percent to $3.6 billion in the
cup coffee machines sit- terbury, Vermont. ready have deals in place ing has stakes in beauty year ending Sept. 26. Sales
ting on millions of kitchen The Keurig deal will boost to make coffee pods for products maker Coty and of its machines fell 23 per-
counters, agreed to sell it- JAB Holding’s already ro- Keurig machines. high-end shoe seller Jimmy cent to $632.6 million in the
self Monday for almost $14 bust coffee empire. The Buying Keurig will get JAB Choo. The deal comes as same period. Its stock has
billion to JAB Holding Co., Luxembourg-based com- Holding closer to coffee Keurig has reported slow- suffered too, falling nearly
a private company with a pany has a controlling market leader Nestle, said ing sales of its machines 61 percent since the begin-
growing java business. stake in Jacobs Douwe Stifel analyst Mark Astra- and K-cups, the coffee- ning of the year.q

GE scraps $3.3B appliance business sale to Electrolux

The General Electric logo is seen at a plant in Belfort, eastern France. GE has scrapped a $3.3 bil- ovens and other cooking- General Electric has been
lion plan to sell its home appliance business to the Swedish company Electrolux, a deal opposed related kitchen applianc- selling parts of its portfolio
by U.S. regulators over concerns about competition. es, especially to customers as it pushes to focus more
like home builders, prop- on core industrial business-
(AP Photo/Thibault Camus) erty managers, hotels, and esthat make large, compli-
governments. cated equipment for other
The Associated Press conglomerate said that it ance maker after U.S. rival An antitrust attorney rep- companies.
(AP) GE has scrapped a will continue to run the busi- Whirlpool. The Stockholm- resenting Electrolux down- Nick Heymann, an ana-
$3.3 billion plan to sell its ness as it looks for other op- based company sells most played competitive con- lyst at William Blair and
home appliance busi- tions to sell it. of its products in the U.S. cerns by noting that Asian Co., called the Electrolux
ness to the Swedish com- General Electric Co. of- under the Frigidaire brand. brands like Samsung and deal “great,” but said GE
pany Electrolux, a deal fered no reason for its de- The U.S. Department of LG have rapidly increased “couldn’t get around” the
opposed by U.S. regulators cision in a brief statement Justice had sued to stop their share of the large ap- anti-trust issues.
over concerns about com- released Monday. the deal in July, saying pliance market over the Samsung and LG, with
petition. Electrolux is the world’s sec- the combined company past decade. The attor- strong market share in
The Fairfield, Connecticut, ond-biggest home appli- would dominate sales of ney also said huge retail- North America, could be
ers like Home Depot and prospective new buyers,
major home builders can he said. GE’s home appli-
pressure manufacturers to ance business is doing well,
keep prices low and com- with a “whole new set of
petition intense. enhanced models,” Hey-
Electrolux said Monday mann said. GE has a “more
that it “regrets that GE has saleable asset” and has
terminated the agreement the “option to reboot” fol-
while the court procedure lowing the collapse of the
is still pending.” Electrolux deal, he said.
The Swedish company said GE said Monday that it was
settlement proposals that it entitled to a breakup fee of
considered to be reason- $175 million from Electrolux.
able were offered to fed- GE shares fell 24 cents to
eral regulators and would $30.25 in afternoon trading
have addressed concerns Monday, while Electrolux
about competition, but the AB Class B shares dropped
Department of Justice re- more than 13 percent in
jected those proposals. Stockholm.q

Chipotle shares down after sales warning linked to E. coli

CANDICE CHOI rent trends continue. That much as 22 percent as ad- on Nov. 13 duce suppliers might not be
AP Food Industry Writer would mark the first time ditional cases were report- About 48 million people get able to meet the new stan-
NEW YORK (AP) — Chipo- the figure fell since Chipotle ed, and were down 16 per- sick from a foodborne ill- dards. Locally sourced pro-
tle shares continued falling went public in 2006. cent for November. ness each year, according duce accounts for a “rela-
Monday as the company Chipotle’s stock was down The Centers for Disease to the CDC. tively small percentage” of
faces its first decline in a 3.5 percent at $541.53 in Control and Prevention Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., the produce the chain uses,
key sales figure after an midday trading Monday. had said earlier Friday that based in Denver, says what- said Chris Arnold, a Chipo-
outbreak of E. coli linked to In a filing with the Securi- the outbreak had widened ever the likely ingredient tle spokesman. Jeffrey Ber-
its restaurants. ties and Exchange Com- and sickened 52 people in was that made people sick nstein, a Barclays analyst,
The chain known for tout- mission, Chipotle said sales nine states. It has not yet is out of its restaurants and noted that fast-food chains
ing its quality ingredients have been “extremely vol- identified the ingredient that it is adopting stricter have recovered from simi-
said Friday it expects sales atile” since it closed restau- that made people sick. food safety standards. lar foodborne illnesses in
to drop between 8 per- rants in Oregon and Wash- The first cases were report- The company, which has the past. But he said Chipo-
cent and 11 percent at ington in early November ed at the end of October, benefited from marketing tle’s recovery will likely take
established locations for as a result of the outbreak. and the agency said the its use of local ingredients, longer given greater social
the fourth quarter if cur- Sales plummeted by as most recent illness started said some of its local pro- media awareness.q