LONDON (Reuters) - JAB Holding Co, the private European investor known for its sprawling coffee business, has agreed to buy a majority stake in Compassion-First Pet Hospitals, moving its portfolio into yet another sector.
JAB said on Monday that it was buying the stake from private equity firm Quad-C Management, based on a total enterprise value of $1.215 billion (£929 million) for the veterinary company. The exact size of the stake was not disclosed.
JAB is the acquisition-hungry vehicle of the German Reimann family. Over the past five years it has built a coffee and restaurant empire that includes Peet's Coffee, Keurig Dr Pepper (NYSE:KDP) and Pret a Manger.
It is also the biggest shareholder in cosmetics firm Coty, in which it plans to lift its stake.
This is JAB's first deal in the veterinary sector, which has provided fertile ground recently for deals as consumers spend more on their pets. Last year, for example, Mars agreed to buy European vet business AniCura.
Compassion-First operates a network of 41 veterinary hospitals and facilities across 13 U.S. states.
JAB said it will invest equity capital from JAB Consumer Fund, backed by external investors, as well as its own resources.