Starbucks (SBUX 0.47%) has entered into an agreement to purchase Teavana Holdings (NYSE: TEA) in an all-cash transaction valued at $620 million ($15.50 per share).
"Together, Starbucks and Teavana will jumpstart the next wave of growth in this dynamic category, leveraging Starbucks core competencies of real estate, design and store operations and integrating these with Teavana's world-class tea authority, global sourcing capabilities, merchandising and best-in-class retail store unit economics," said the companies in a press release.
Starbucks described Teavana as complementing its existing Tazo brand of tea, and promised to maintain and build out Teavana's existing network of 300 mall-based stores, even expanding further into non-mall locations. Teavana recently opened a store in Kuwait, with plans to expand further in that country, and also throughout Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Seventy percent of Teavana's voting shares have already approved the merger, and Starbucks expects the acquisition of Teavana to close by the end of this year. The acquisition is expected to add approximately $0.01 per share to Starbucks' 2013 earnings.
