Kirkland & Ellis Represents Intelligentsia Coffee in Deal with Peet's Coffee & Tea

Kirkland & Ellis LLP represented Intelligentsia Coffee, which announced today an agreement for Peet's Coffee & Tea to acquire a majority stake in Intelligentsia, the pioneer of the third wave coffee movement. Intelligentsia will continue to operate independently and have full access to Peet’s resources and scale. Intelligentsia co-founders Doug Zell and Emily Mange as well as co-owner Geoff Watts will retain a significant stake in the business and stay actively involved in the company’s operations. Peet’s will continue to pursue its growth strategy across its retail cafes, wholesale and grocery. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Kirkland team representing Intelligentsia includes corporate partners Jeremy Liss and Paul Anderson and associate Melanie Harmon. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP served as legal counsel to Peet’s. Piper Jaffray served as financial advisor to Intelligentsia.

More information on the transaction is available here.