Nestle in $7.1bn Starbucks coffee deal
New York, May 7: Food giant Nestle on Monday announced a $7.1 billion deal with Starbucks for the rights to sell the chains coffee, tea and food products in grocery stores and other outlets globally.
The Swiss consumer goods giant said 500 Starbucks employees would transfer over to its business but they would continue to be located in Seattle, the group's headquarters for the last 47 years.
The Nescafe and Nespresso owner would own the rights to market Starbucks' coffee, which it says generates $2 billion in annual sales, the BBC reported.
Nestle chief executive Mark Schneider, who in 2016 became the first outsider to run Nestle in almost 100 years and who is attempting to boost the company's profit through expansion, described it as a "significant step".
The company last sold its US sweets and chocolate business, including brands such as Crunch and Butterfinger, to Ferrero Group for 2.7 billion Swiss francs.
Schneider described the "global coffee alliance" with Starbucks as "a great day for coffee lovers around the world".
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Man sets fire to gas cylinder on truck in Kerala's Kottayam, held
Kottayam(Kerala) (PTI): A 33-year-old man climbed onto a parked truck carrying cooking gas cylinders and set fire to one of them near Thalayolaparambu in the small hours of Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred around 12.30 am, they said.
The fire and rescue personnel soon arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, averting a major disaster.
According to police, the man is suspected to be under mental distress as he claimed that he was walking from Ernakulam to his home in Marangattupilly here when he saw the truck on the roadside.
An FIR under sections 329(3)(criminal trespass),324(2)(mischief),326(f)(mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was lodged against him.
Police said that the man was formally arrested, but will be released on station bail as the offences he is accused of are bailable.
"His family is here at the station and he will be released to them," the officer said.
In the FIR, police have said that the man opened the seal of one of the gas cylinders and set fire to it with the knowledge that his act was dangerous to those living in the area.
According to the company transporting the cooking gas cylinders, it suffered a loss of Rs 2,300 in the incident.
