Café y Té

The Catalana d’Iniciatives portfolio company Café y Té is preparing to merge with the fellow café chain Jamaica Coffee Shop, in an agreement designed to allow them both to compete with Starbucks. According to Café y Té’s managing director Gustavo Ron, who owns a 60% interest, the objective is to create a large Spanish group which can compete outside the country. Currently, the greatest stumbling block to the merger is the large number of franchised outlets involved. Ron confirms that if the merger were to fail, he would then study the possibility of acquiring small chains. Although sources close to Jamaica Coffee Shop, Spain’s largest café chain, have denied rumours of an imminent merger, the combined group would have a network of around 220 cafés and reach a turnover of over €65m. Jamaica Coffee Shop, which is owned by the Catalonian businessmen José Magas, Antonio Veloso and Ricardo Rodríguez, has 122 outlets in Spain, Andorra and Portugal, of which 101 are franchisers. The company also owns the Barberà del Vallès-based coffee producer Cafés Garriga. The Café y Té chain has 72 cafés and plans to open a further 30 by the end of next year. The firm achieved sales of €24.1m in 2003. Catalana d’Iniciatives invested €6.6m in the company in in return for a 28% stake.

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• Topics
• Southern Europe