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- Keurig Green Mountain and Dr. Pepper Snapple announced Monday they’re planning to merge in a deal worth $18.7 billion — the largest soft-drink transaction in history.
- High-powered investment bankers advised on the takeover and could earn more than $100 million in deal fees.
Keurig Green Mountain and Dr. Pepper Snapple announced Mondaythey’re planning to merge in a deal worth $18.7 billion.
It’s the largest soft-drink transaction in history, creating a new company called Keurig Dr. Pepper that’s projected to earn $11 billion in annual sales.
The transaction is also expected to generate massive fees for the bankers that helped arrange it.
Dr. Pepper Snapple was solely advised by Credit Suisse, which was led by veteran banker Andrew Conway, according to people familiar with the matter. Credit Suisse will earn an estimated $50 million to $60 million for advising on the deal, according to Nassof.
JAB Holding, the family-run European investment firm that took Keurig private in 2015, will control Keurig Dr. Pepper. They’re expected to pay their roster of bankers $35 million to $45 million for advising on the deal, according to estimates by Jeffrey Nassof, the director of the consulting firm Freeman & Co.
The lion’s share of that is expected to go to Goldman Sachs, with veteran dealmaker Peter Gross the lead banker on the deal, according to people familiar with the matter.
JAB was also advised by Byron Trott, the rainmaker behind one of the most secretive investment banks in the world, BDT Capital Partners. The firm’s in-house merchant-bank, BDT & Company, acted as financial advisers on the transaction, according to the company, while entities affiliated with BDT Capital Partners are also investing alongside JAB.
Antonio Weiss — who previously headed investment banking at Lazard — had a long-term relationship with JAB and independently advised them on the transaction. Weiss, who served as counselor to the Treasury secretary during the Obama administration, also works on policy these days as a senior fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, led by bankers Roger Matthews and Federico Aliboni, and JPMorgan also served as financial advisers to the JAB-Keurig side.
All told, that’s potentially more than $100 million in deal fees for the advisory bankers.
The financial advisers on both sides declined to comment on the transaction or their bankers’ involvement in it.
Graham Rapier contributed to this report.
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