A Dutch Company Wants to Takeover Our OldTown, Here’s What You Need to Know

Say ‘OldTown’ and any Malaysian would know that franchise and coffee that is present all over the country. However, recent news surfaced where a Dutch company is offering to take over this Malaysian coffee brand! Nuuuu!

Well, we’re here to break it down for you guys, so all those words and figures are much more easily digestible lah! Here’s some of the things you should know:

1. The Dutch company in question is Jacobs Douwe Egberts Holdings Asia NL B.V.

Jacobs whatttt? Well, this Dutch company is actually a global coffee and tea company, which houses several brands under their belt – Jacobs, Tassimo, Moccona, Senseo, L’OR, and more. However, it looks like the recent buy got Old Town White Coffee included in their list of brands too!

2. Jacobs tookover OldTown Bhd. for RM1.47bil 

Yes, a whopping RM1.47 billion! Or it could also be calculated as RM3.18 a share.

3.  ‘OldTown’ originated from the quaint town of Ipoh, Perak, since 1999!

OldTown White Coffee is Malaysia’s largest halal-certified kopitiam restaurant chain man! Besides the cafes, they manufacture instant beverage mixes and products. Till date, they have about 210 cafes throughout Malaysia. The brand is also operating in other countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, and China.

4. OldTown White Coffee is sold WORLDWIDE

Source: vatgia

Yes, our coffee is available in countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, United States of America, Canada, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, United Kingdom, Australia, Myanmar, Cambodia and New Zealand! No wonder this Dutch company wanna takeover it lah!

5. CIMB Investment Bank has provided assurance of the funding required

A sum of US$370mil (or approximately RM1.512bil) has been deposited by JDE into an escrow account with a bank in Singapore in accordance with the terms of an escrow arrangement. CIMB Investment Bank said the escrow fund cannot be released from the account other than for the permitted purposes of paying for the takeover of OldTown.

6. JED intends to make the offer with a view to delist and privatise OldTown

So we’re looking at OldTown no longer being a ‘Berhad’! This is so the company, which is incorporated in the Netherlands, have greater control and management flexibility as well as dispense with compliance costs associated with its listed status.

With all the offers made, it appears OldTown group managing director Lee Siew Heng is keen. He said they looked forward to drawing on JDE’s global expertise and building a highly successful partnership. We’ll just wait and see if the deal pulls through!

It is such an eye opening experience to see a homegrown brand make it this far.

Also read: 12 Popular F&B Franchises You Probably Didn’t Know Were From Malaysia