Selecta (company)

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Selecta
IndustryVending and coffee services operator[1]
Founded1957; 67 years ago (1957) in Murten, Switzerland
FounderJoseph Jeger
Headquarters
Area served
Europe[1]
ProductsCoffee vending machines
Revenue1.6 billion[2]
Number of employees
10,000[2]
ParentKohlberg Kravis Roberts
Websitewww.selecta.com

Selecta Group is a European unattended self-service retailer founded in 1957 in Murten, Switzerland. It is owned by the American investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The company provides coffee and convenience foods in the workplace and public spaces. It is headquartered in Cham, Switzerland. In 2019, the company had approximately 10,000 employees and generated approximately 1.6 billion in revenue.[2]

History[edit]

Public vending

In 1950, Joseph Jeger, a Swiss employee working in Basel, went on a business trip to the United States and saw his first vending machines in factories there. He thought it would be a great idea to put similar vending machines in the factory of the company he worked for. Spending all his savings, he ordered five machines from the US producer and was allowed to install them in the factory. Joseph Jeger's employer is still a client of Selecta.[citation needed]

Factory workers used Jeger's machines day in and day out. The American machines were produced with American fittings, making them expensive to maintain. To overcome this, Jeger rented a garage in his hometown of Murten, hired his first employee and produced the first vending machine made in Switzerland. This vending machine was the first to carry the name Selecta in 1957.[citation needed]

Milestones[edit]

  • 1957 - Selecta founded in Switzerland.
  • 1985 - Selecta joins the Valora Group.
  • 1997 - Selecta floats on the Swiss Stock Exchange at CHF 515 million.[3]
  • 2001 - Compass Group acquires Selecta for CHF 1.35 billion.[4]
  • 2007 - Selecta is purchased by Allianz Capital Partners for CHF 1.80 billion.[5]
  • 2012 - Selecta partners with Starbucks to launch Starbucks Office Coffee.[6]
  • 2015 - Selecta is purchased by KKR for CHF 3.7bn.[7]
  • 2017 - Selecta acquires Pelican Rouge, a company with operations in eight European countries. Selecta also acquires Pelican Rouge's roasting facility in the Netherlands.[8][9]
  • 2018 - Selecta acquires Argenta[10] and Express Vending in the UK.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Stuckey, David (February 3, 2017). "Ellex and Cobalt Advises on BaltCap Acquisition of Selecta's Baltic Operations". ceelegalmatters.com.
  2. ^ a b c "Selecta Corporate Factsheet Summer 2019". Selecta. Selecta Group. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  3. ^ Studer, Margaret (16 May 1997). "Swiss IPOs, Spinoffs Present New Investment Opportunities". Wall Street Journal.
  4. ^ Hagerty, James R. (February 13, 2001). "Compass Group Agrees to Acquire Remaining Shares of Selecta Group". Wall Street Journal.
  5. ^ "Allianz Capital Partners buys Selecta". AltAssets. May 16, 2007.
  6. ^ "Starbucks and Selecta launch Starbucks Office Coffee". Starbucks (Press release). August 13, 2012.
  7. ^ "Allianz sells vending machine operator Selecta to KKR". Reuters. October 12, 2015.
  8. ^ "Selecta agrees to acquire coffee vending company Pelican Rouge" (Press release). FoodBev. March 14, 2017.
  9. ^ "Selecta completes acquisition of Pelican Rouge". Selecta (Press release). September 8, 2017.
  10. ^ "KKR-backed Selecta buys Argenta". Unquote.
  11. ^ White, Martin (August 17, 2018). "Selecta acquires vending solution supplier Express Vending" (Press release). FoodBev.

External links[edit]