A&P Reaches Agreement to Sell Coffee Business.Business Editors MONTVALE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 20, 2003 The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (A&P) today announced an agreement to sell its Eight O'Clock coffee Eight O'Clock Coffee is the brand name of the light roast of coffee introduced by the American supermarket chain A&P in 1919. In the 1929s and 1930s Eight O'Clock coffee had gained over a quarter of the U.S. market share. In 1979 A&P licensed its division Compass Foods, Inc. division to Gryphon Investors, a San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden based private equity firm, for cash and a note. The Company said it will realize cash proceeds of $107.5 million and receive a contingent Note for up to $20 million, the value and payment of which is based on certain elements of the future performance of the business. The completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and reviews, including the closing of the buyer's financing. Christian Haub, Chairman of the Board, President & Chief Executive Officer of A&P, said "This transaction will conclude our previously announced asset divestiture initiative to lower debt and reduce operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales . This included the sales of our northern New England New England, name applied to the region comprising six states of the NE United States—Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The region is thought to have been so named by Capt. and Wisconsin operations earlier this year. "Upon completion of the Eight O'Clock coffee transaction, we will have realized total proceeds of approximately $285 million from the asset divestiture initiatives. Although difficult, these actions were necessary to the revitalization of our U.S. business and the Company's long-term success," Mr. Haub said. The Company said that Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH), founded in 1850, is a diversified, global financial services firm. It is a participant in investment banking, equity and fixed income sales, research and trading, investment management, private equity, and private banking. served as financial advisor for the transaction. Founded in 1859, A&P was one of the nation's first supermarket chains, and is today among North America's largest. The Company operates 643 stores in 11 states, the District of Columbia District of Columbia, federal district (2000 pop. 572,059, a 5.7% decrease in population since the 1990 census), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Washington, D.C. (the capital of the United States). and Ontario, Canada under the following trade names: A&P, Waldbaum's, The Food Emporium, Super Foodmart, Super Fresh, Farmer Jack, Sav-A-Center, Dominion, The Barn Markets, Food Basics and Ultra Food & Drug. |
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