Westrock Coffee Company, LLC, is acquiring S&D Coffee & Tea. Media reports set the purchase price at $405 million.
Under the agreement announced Jan. 31, both companies with continue to operate under their respective brands. Westrock Coffee will still operate from Little Rock, Ark., while S&D Coffee & Tea will continue working from its operations center in Concord, N.C., according to a statement issued by Westrock Coffee.
The transaction is expected to close within a few weeks. Once completed, company officials say the acquisition will create an integrated coffee company serving the needs of the retail, restaurant, convenience store, and hospitality industries.
The new company will employ about 1,700 people around the world with a capability of roasting, grinding, and packaging more than 220 million pounds of coffee annually, the statement said.
Private equity company Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., is providing acquisition capital alongside existing Westrock Coffee investors, including The Stephens Group, LLC.
“This strategic combination will create the nation’s premier coffee, tea, and extract supplier that is capable of serving the most complex and demanding customers across the country and around the world,” Scott Ford, Westrock Coffee co-founder and c.e.o., said. “We intend to use the scale of the new company to offer the most innovative beverage solutions with competitive pricing to our global clients while simultaneously providing a premium price to our farmer partners at origin. Our unmatched commitment to customer service, product quality, and our industry-leading sustainability and transparent sourcing practices will remain a cornerstone of our business.”