Green Mountain Wraps Up Deal for Diedrich

WATERBURY, Vt. (TheStreet) -- Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) signed a definitive agreement to acquire Diedrich Coffee(DDRX) for $35 a share, or for a total of about $290 million.

Diedrich, meanwhile, terminated its previously announced merger agreement with Peet's Coffee & Tea(PEET).

Green Mountain will pay Peet's a termination fee of $8.5 million.

Under the terms of the merger, Green Mountain will acquire all outstanding Diedrich shares for $35 each in a cash tender offer. Green Mountain said Tuesday it intends to fully finance the transaction through cash on hand and its existing bank lines of credit.

Diedrich last week received the takeover offer of $35 a share in cash from Green Mountain and said it was more "favorable" to its shareholders than a competing proposal from Peet's.

Peet's said Monday it wouldn't raise its original cash-and-stock offer of $26 a share to buy Diedrich, leaving Diedrich to terminate their merger agreement signed in November.

Green Mountain and Peet's have been vying for Diedrich, each hoping to own the company's license to produce popular single-serve coffee pods called K-Cups that are used in Keurig's brewing system.

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