Pret A Manger ‘considering stake sale ahead of possible flotation'
Luxembourg-based JAB Holding – which bought Pret for £1.5 billion in 2018 – told the Financial Times that while it was not 'currently' considering a stake sale in Pret, it could look at the move with an initial public offering (IPO) in its sights.
'As we move closer to a potential IPO, we may evaluate bringing on a pre-IPO investor,' it told the FT.
It is thought to mark the first time Pret has publicly confirmed IPO plans for Pret.
JAB – which also owns Krispy Kreme and Keurig Dr Pepper – announced last month it had hired hospitality industry stalwart Jose Cil as chairman of Pret's board.
Mr Cil was most recently chief executive of Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International, which also owns chains including Popeyes.
JAB has been contacted for comment.
Pret recently announced it was dropping plans for a doubling of its current £5 monthly subscription for up to five coffees a day as it looks to retain customers against a difficult consumer spending backdrop.
The group had previously told subscribers that their subscription would increase to £10 a month from March 31, when a '50% off' deal ended.
It followed Pret overhauling its £360-a-year subscription in July last year in favour of 50% off up to five coffees a day for £10 a month.
The chain also removed a 20% discount on food for subscribers to end dual pricing – 'something we never really got comfortable with', it said at the time.
Under the old deal that lasted for almost four years, Club Pret membership offered up to five barista-made drinks daily for a monthly fee of £30.
Pret is headed up by chief executive Pano Christou, who was promoted to the top job in 2019.
The firm opened its first shop in London in 1986, where the company remains headquartered.
It now has 700 shops worldwide with around 12,500 employees across 21 markets.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
an hour ago
- South Wales Argus
Building materials firm Lords Group buys rival CMO in rescue deal
London-listed firm Lords said it acquired the 'trade and assets' of CMO for around £1.8 million as part of a pre-pack administration. The deal will secure the future of around 120 workers at Plymouth-based CMO, who will join the wider Lords group. CMO, which was founded in 2008 as Construction Materials Online, sells more than 140,000 products to trade professionals and households through a raft of specialist superstore-branded company was listed on London's AIM junior stock market until February, when it delisted in order to help preserve funds. The firms highlighted that the deal will not include the Tiles business previously owned by CMO. Dean Murray, chief executive of CMO, said: 'The acquisition marks a new and exciting chapter for CMO. 'We have built a strong, digitally-led business over the past 15 years, and in Lords, we have found a partner that not only understands our model but shares our ambition. 'I am incredibly proud of what the CMO team has achieved and excited about what is next.' Shanker Patel, chief executive of Lords, said: 'We are delighted to welcome CMO into the Lords family. 'CMO brings a well-established digital platform, strong customer reach, and a specialist product-led approach that complements our own. 'This partnership allows us to blend traditional merchanting strengths with cutting-edge digital capabilities. 'We are also mindful of the impact of the pre-pack administration process on affected parties and are committed to conducting the transition with respect.'
Western Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Western Telegraph
Building materials firm Lords Group buys rival CMO in rescue deal
London-listed firm Lords said it acquired the 'trade and assets' of CMO for around £1.8 million as part of a pre-pack administration. The deal will secure the future of around 120 workers at Plymouth-based CMO, who will join the wider Lords group. CMO, which was founded in 2008 as Construction Materials Online, sells more than 140,000 products to trade professionals and households through a raft of specialist superstore-branded company was listed on London's AIM junior stock market until February, when it delisted in order to help preserve funds. The firms highlighted that the deal will not include the Tiles business previously owned by CMO. Dean Murray, chief executive of CMO, said: 'The acquisition marks a new and exciting chapter for CMO. 'We have built a strong, digitally-led business over the past 15 years, and in Lords, we have found a partner that not only understands our model but shares our ambition. 'I am incredibly proud of what the CMO team has achieved and excited about what is next.' Shanker Patel, chief executive of Lords, said: 'We are delighted to welcome CMO into the Lords family. 'CMO brings a well-established digital platform, strong customer reach, and a specialist product-led approach that complements our own. 'This partnership allows us to blend traditional merchanting strengths with cutting-edge digital capabilities. 'We are also mindful of the impact of the pre-pack administration process on affected parties and are committed to conducting the transition with respect.'
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Nigel Farage accused of 'selling fairy dust' over unfunded steelworks plan
Reform leader Nigel Farage said he wants to reopen the Port Talbot steelworks in Wales, but is under pressure to say how he would achieve it after failing to give answers today Nigel Farage has been accused of "selling fairy dust" after saying he wants to reopen Port Talbot's blast furnaces without a plan to pay for it. The Reform leader announced his desire with a wave of fanfare - but was unable to say how he would achieve it. Mr Farage admitted he would need the help of central government and private businesses, and conceded it would cost billions of pounds. During a press conference in Wales he was confronted with claims the furnaces are "beyond recovery", with the cost of building a brand new steelworks costing around £3billion Floundering Mr Farage said: "Nothing is impossible, but it might be difficult, it might be easier to build a new one." He said it was an "ambition" to reopen the blast furnaces, which closed last year as operator Tata moves to a greener electric arc. The Indian-based company said it was losing £1million a day in Port Talbot. The Reform leader has set his sights on winning control of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd. Following his press conference, a spokesman for the Community Union said: 'We will always support credible policies that create more well-paid jobs in the steel sector, but our steel communities deserve better than to be used as a political football. If Reform have serious plans for the future of our steel sector in Wales, they should set them out in full.' And Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, whose Aberafan Maesteg constituency includes Port Talbot, said Mr Farage was pitching "an operation that no one with any proper knowledge of steelmaking thinks is credible". Mr Kinnock went on: "Farage is a dyed-in-the-wool Thatcherite cosplaying as a socialist. It has been a really challenging time for our community. Politicians should focus on what we can achieve through Labour's £2.5bn Steel Fund - not insulting our intelligence by selling snake oil & fairy dust." A Labour Party spokesman said: ' Nigel Farage is all talk, no plan, and would risk chaos, cuts and decline for Britain. 'He admitted today that it is a 'massive expensive job to reopen blast furnaces' costing 'in the low billions', without offering any explanation for how he would pay for it. Reform UK is just not serious." At his press conference Mr Farage acknowledged it would cost "in the low billions" to repopen the blast furnances, and said "private business partners" would have to be brought in. "Reopening a blast furnace is not an easy thing," he admitted. Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives' Senedd group, said: "Nigel Farage's empty and uncosted promises are nothing more than a mirage. The people of Port Talbot won't be taken for fools." And Heledd Fychan, of Plaid Cymru, said: "Today, Reform have shown us what they offer Wales, empty headlines and nonsensical policies. Farage has parachuted himself into a community recently devastated by UK government inaction, and is taking advantage of the loss by claiming to reopen the blast furnaces, something the industry have already told us is impossible."
