Kraft Heinz Co. agreed to sell control of its North American coffee business, home of Maxwell House and Gevalia, to private-equity firm One Rock Capital Partners, the latest step in a turnaround that has the food giant shedding slower brands to focus on its biggest names.
The deal values the business at $650 million including debt, the companies said Wednesday. One Rock will take a 70% stake and Kraft Heinz will keep 30%. Kraft Heinz expects net cash proceeds after taxes of about $500 million, which it plans to use to reduce debt. The company said the sale should lift both its growth rate and its margins.
What’s in the package
Besides Maxwell House and Gevalia, the business includes the Nabob, Yuban, Tassimo, Ethical Bean and Sanka brands. Coffee plants in Jacksonville, Fla., and Vancouver, British Columbia, will transfer with roughly 250 full-time employees in supply chain, sales, marketing, finance and research. One Rock, a New York firm that specializes in corporate carve-outs and has a long record in food and beverage, said it plans to step up investment in the brands.
The transaction is expected to close in the middle of 2027, subject to regulatory approval. Rothschild & Co. and Centerview Partners advised Kraft Heinz, and Deutsche Bank and Fifth Third Securities advised One Rock.
A turnaround in progress
Chief Executive Steve Cahillane, who joined in January, paused a plan to split Kraft Heinz in two, a move that would have reversed the 2015 merger of Kraft and Heinz, and instead pledged about $700 million of reinvestment in core brands. On the same day as the coffee sale, the company reported third-quarter results ahead of forecasts and raised its 2026 outlook, now projecting organic sales to fall 0.5% to 1.25%, a narrower decline than it previously expected. The shares rose about 5% in morning trading.
