Economy

Nestle Pays $7.15b to Market Starbucks Products

Published

8 years ago

14/05/2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A licensing deal worth $7.15 billion has been sealed between Nestle and Starbucks Corporation, allowing Nestle have the perpetual right to market Starbucks’ consumer and foodservice products globally outside of Starbucks coffee shops, which are not part of the transaction.

“This transaction is a significant step for our coffee business, Nestlé’s largest high-growth category,” said Mr Mark Schneider, CEO, Nestlé.

“With Starbucks, Nescafé and Nespresso we bring together three iconic brands in the world of coffee.

“We are delighted to have Starbucks as our partner. Both companies have true passion for outstanding coffee and are proud to be recognized as global leaders for their responsible and sustainable coffee sourcing. This is a great day for coffee lovers around the world,” he added.

“This global coffee alliance will bring the Starbucks experience to the homes of millions more around the world through the reach and reputation of Nestlé,” President and CEO of Starbucks, Mr Kevin Johnson, stated.

“This historic deal is part of our ongoing efforts to focus and evolve our business to meet the changing consumer needs, and we are proud to work alongside a company that is committed to our shared values,” he added.

Business Post reports that the two companies will work closely together on innovation and go-to-market strategies to bring the best coffee to customers around the world as the deal allows Nestlé to capture exciting new growth opportunities in the rest of the world with Starbucks premium products. As a complete provider of coffee solutions, Nestlé will accelerate growth in out-of-home channels.

However, the agreement is subject to customary regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of 2018. The agreement excludes Ready-to-Drink products and all sales of any products within Starbucks coffee shops.

As part of this transaction, Starbucks will receive an up-front cash payment of $7.15 billion for a business which generated annual sales of $2 billion.

But the transaction does not include the transfer of any fixed assets, which facilitates a smooth and efficient integration and Nestlé expects this business to contribute positively to its earnings per share and organic growth targets as from 2019.

Nestlé’s ongoing share-buyback program will remain unchanged, the management said, but approximately 500 Starbucks employees will join the Nestlé family to drive performance of the existing business and global expansion. Operations will continue to be located in Seattle.

Meanwhile, notable credit rating company, Moody’s, has rated the Nestlé’s Starbucks deal as “credit negative,” changing its outlook on Nestlé’s Aa2 rating to negative from stable.

It noted that the deal will be fully funded with debt, increasing Nestlè’s reported gross debt by approximately 20 percent.

Moody’s said because Nestle confirmed that its ongoing CHF20 billion share buyback to be completed by 2020 will not be amended following the transaction, the firm’s credit metrics, which are already weak for its current Aa2 rating, will deteriorate.

“We expect Nestlé’s ratio of retained cash flow to net debt to drop to below 20% in 2019 and 2020 from 29 percent in 2017, which is below our 30 percent quantitative guidance for its Aa2 rating, and its ratio of funds from operations to net debt to decline to 36 percent -40 percent from around 56 percent,” Moody’s said in its report obtained by Business Post.

However, Moody’s said in spite of the negative credit implications, the agreement is positive from an industrial standpoint because it will reinforce Nestlé’s position in the coffee segment, which is growing faster and with higher profitability than the group’s average.

In 2017, Nestlé’s powdered and liquid beverage division, which includes coffee, grew by 3.6 percent compared with the group’s consolidated organic sales growth of 2.4 percent and the division’s underlying trading operating margin was 21.9 percent compared with a consolidated 16.4 percent.

The Starbucks’ business included in the agreement generated approximately $2.0 billion of revenue in 2017 and Nestlé could rapidly expand it, especially outside the US given its global distribution platform.

Moreover, the deal does not entail any fixed-asset transfer, which should limit execution risk and reduce integration costs.

The agreement is consistent with Nestlè’s strategy to reach mid-single-digit organic sales growth in 2020 and improve its underlying operating margin to 17.5 percent -18.5 percent by 2020 from 16 percent in 2016, reflecting accelerating organic sales growth via product innovation and renovation; a CHF2.0-CHF2.5 billion cost-savings programme; and the adjustment of the group’s product portfolio by disposing of low-growth, low margin segments and by investing in more attractive ones. Recent transactions include the disposal of the US confectionery business for $2.8 billion in January 2018, the acquisition of Canadian nutritional company Atrium for $2.3 billion in December 2017 and the purchase of a 68 percent stake in premium coffee retailer Blue Bottle Coffee in September 2017. The company is also considering the disposal of Gerber’s life insurance business.

Economy

MRS Oil, FrieslandCampina Wamco Shrink NASD Index by 0.68%

Published

14 hours ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.

MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.

The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.

Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.

When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.

Economy

NGX Index Rebounds 0.15% on Renewed Interest in Financial Stocks

Published

14 hours ago

06/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.

Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.

This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.

The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.

On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.

Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.

At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,362/$1 at Official Market

Published

14 hours ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.

For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.

The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.

Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.

Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.