Tata Coffee to buy Eight O' Clock Coffee
JUN. 26 1:24 A.M. ET India's largest coffee growing company, Tata Coffee Ltd., said it has signed a deal to acquire U.S.-based Eight O'Clock Coffee Co. from Gryphon Investors for US$220 million (euro175 million).
Gryphon Investors is a San Francisco-based private equity firm that bought Eight O'Clock Coffee from its parent company -- The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. -- in 2004.
The acquisition will help the Indian company gain a foothold in the U.S. market and leverage the Eight O'Clock Coffee brand to become a global player, Tata Coffee Managing Director M.H. Ashraff said in a statement Sunday.
Eight O' Clock Coffee, headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey, makes whole bean and ground coffee for customers in the United States and Canada. The 147-year-old company has a roasting facility in Landover, Maryland.
"This acquisition is a strategic fit with our growth plans and helps Tata Coffee in attaining its objective to become an international and fully integrated player in the coffee industry," Ashraff said.
The news lifted shares of Tata Coffee by 16 percent to 378 rupees in early trading Monday.
The deal is the latest in a string of overseas acquisitions by top Indian companies, which are trying to increase global visibility after thriving for decades on domestic sales and government protection.
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