Kraft Heinz said Wednesday it has agreed to sell a majority interest in its North American coffee business, including the century-old Maxwell House plant in downtown Jacksonville, to an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners. The deal covers Maxwell House and six other brands, but the company has not said what the sale means for the future of its Jacksonville facility or how many people work there now.
The agreement, announced Nov. 4, was reported by the Jacksonville Daily Record, which described the plant at 735 E. Bay St. as the last remaining U.S. Maxwell House plant, operating at that location since 1924. Beyond Maxwell House, the sale includes the Gevalia, Nabob, Yuban, Tassimo, Ethical Bean and Sanka brands, according to the same report. The transaction also includes coffee manufacturing facilities in Jacksonville and Vancouver, British Columbia, per Mass Market Retailers.
Roughly 250 full-time employees are expected to transition with the coffee business as a whole, according to Daily Coffee News, though that figure covers the entire North American operation rather than the Jacksonville site specifically. The Daily Record reported that Kraft Heinz did not immediately respond to an emailed question about how many employees currently work at the Jacksonville plant. A 2020 report from the same outlet had put the plant’s staffing at about 200 people, though that number predates the current deal by several years and is not confirmed as a present-day figure.
Deal Terms And What Kraft Heinz Gets Back
Kraft Heinz expects after-tax net cash proceeds of about $500 million from the sale while retaining a 30% equity stake in the business, the Daily Record reported. The company said it will use the proceeds to pay down debt. Separately, CNBC reported the business is valued at $650 million on an enterprise basis, a different measure than the cash proceeds Kraft Heinz expects to pocket…