Deal-hungry JAB hunts for new partner to steer Reimann fortune
Peter Harf says he has options to replace Bart Becht who left last month
JAB Holdings, the acquisitive investment group whose portfolio spans Pret A Manger and Keurig Dr Pepper, plans to recruit a new managing partner to replace Bart Becht, who left unexpectedly last month after a disagreement over strategy.
Peter Harf, JAB chairman, told the Financial Times that the 29-person investment group and its portfolio companies were stocked with “young talent” who could be promoted if they showed the right combination of skills and ambition.
“We need someone who is incredibly honest, humble, and of course who has a stellar track record,” said Mr Harf in an interview, who said JAB might wait up to three years. “I have options in mind.”
The clash between Mr Becht, the former chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser, and the other partners stemmed from a differing views on how JAB should function.
Mr Becht advocated taking a more direct approach to running the portfolio of casual dining and coffee-dominated businesses, which also include Jacobs Douwe Egberts and Panera Bread Company.
He also wanted JAB to do fewer deals. But during a $50bn-plus acquisition spree, Mr Harf became convinced that JAB should be an investment company, and leave the day-to-day management to the executives at the businesses.
“This is my mistake, a construction mistake, at the beginning,” Mr Harf said, confirming an earlier FT report. “It was a conflict, if you will, of objectives.”
He added: “What I didn’t realise at the time [I hired him] was that Bart is really more interested in operations, in operating, and we were trying to form an investment company. An investment company . . . is fundamentally different from a company that operates as its major thing.”
Asked whether Mr Becht had sold his JAB shares, Mr Harf said: “We did a very friendly deal that takes the financial side out of the equation. We’re friends, I like the guy. We worked together for 30 years.”
Mr Becht declined to comment.
For now, the task of running JAB falls to Mr Harf and fellow managing partner Olivier Goudet, a skilled dealmaker who joined from US food group Mars around the same time Mr Becht arrived in 2012.
The men are in charge of steering the vehicle that manages the wealth of Germany’s Reimann family, a fortune that Forbes put estimated $18bn, as well as more than $11bn raised from outside investors. The family owns 90 per cent of JAB Holdings, and the equity partners own the rest.
The group’s reputation has taken a knock after one of its older investments, cosmetics maker Coty, botched a flagship $12.5bn acquisition. Moody’s has also put JAB’s credit rating under review, questioning its “aggressive growth strategy”.
The unexpected exit of Mr Becht, who was the most experienced of the partners operationally, has compounded concerns.