Italian coffee maker Luigi Lavazza has exclusive rights to consider the acquisition of Carte Noire coffee business from Mondelez International, as part of its contractual agreement with the latter.
Lavazza was quoted by Reuters as saying: “On the basis of contractual agreements Lavazza will have the opportunity to evaluate exclusively the new proposal.”
Lavazza had at first considered purchasing two smaller companies originally offered up by Mondelez to proceed with the merger.
However, later the companies announced the plan to sell Carte Noir coffee brand instead of L’Or and Grand’Mère brands in order to alleviate the concerns of European regulatory authorities about the merger of Mondelez’s coffee business and D.E. Master Blenders.
“Lavazza has put aside cash for acquisitions and now is looking closely at the possibility to buy Carte Noire,” a source close to the matter, also quoted by Reuters, said.
