Breville brews up Italian coffee deal with LELIT
BREVILLE Group, the kitchen appliances company famous for its juicers and toasters and whose largest shareholder is retail billionaire Solomon Lew, is expanding its reach into upmarket coffee machines after agreeing to buy Italian-based specialty coffee group, LELIT, for €113m ($168.4m).
Coffee machines, which can sell for thousands of dollars, were snapped up through the Covid-19 pandemic as cafes and restaurants were closed and people set up home offices.
Breville announced on Friday that half the amount would be paid in cash and half by the issue of fully paid ordinary shares in Breville priced at $27.64 each, which will be subject to a five-year trading lock post completion.
Shares in Breville last traded at $26.98.
Breville said the cash portion would be funded from existing reserves and debt facilities and that key members of the LELIT Group management team, including the founders, had agreed to join the company
Founded in Castegnato, Italy in 1985, LELIT designs, manufactures, and markets premium home coffee equipment in Europe and throughout the world.