Ilan's cafe chain owner Ehud Karlinsky is in advanced talks to buy the Cup 'O' Joe cafe chain, sources inform "Globes." As far as is known, the negotiations are for the entire Cup 'O" Joe Gourmet Ltd. company, which includes the coffee production plant as well as the retail cafe chain, which has annual sales of about NIS 60 million.
Cup 'O' Joe is controlled by Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), which acquired a 51% stake in 2011, with the balance held by the company's American founders David Klein and Dov Goldfarb.
Cup 'O' Joe was founded in 1997, and operates 40 outlets on a franchise basis as well as 200 points-of-sale for coffee in Menta convenience stores. The company's activities are divided into two areas: a coffee factory selling to the chain and to the institutional market; and the Cup 'O' Joe cafe chain. Most of the cafes offer full service and are an average 120 square meters in size. Some are in workplaces like Intel and the banks, and there is also a sub-chain called Joe College on academic campuses.
Karlinsky is a major player in the coffee market. Nearly three years ago, he acquired 11 of the 13 Ilan's branches from Yaakov Luzon for NIS 15 million, largely thanks to the outlet in Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion airport, which had sales of NIS 3 million per month.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 4, 2018
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