Van Houtte Continues Making Acquisitions In The Us And Canada

Van Houtte Inc. (“Van Houtte” or the “company”) (TSX: VH.SV) announced today it has recently acquired three coffee services providers.

Two of the three companies are located in the greater Houston area. Coffee Landing, a franchise of Filterfresh, Van Houtte’s American subsidiary in the coffee services field, and the coffee services division of Fresh Brew Group, USA. These two companies will eventually merge.

“These two acquisitions will give us a solid foothold in the Houston market, the fourth largest in the United States,” said Van Houtte president and CEO Jean-Yves Monette.

The third company is Dawson’s Office Beverage Services Inc., in Edmonton, Alberta, which has been integrated into Van Houtte’s Edmonton branch.

In combination, these three companies post annual sales of $7.3 million, operating income (EBITDA) of $1.6 million and have 34 employees on their payrolls. The three acquisitions were completed at a cost of $5.8 million.

FOURTEEN ACQUISITIONS SINCE APRIL These three companies bring to 14 the number of coffee services businesses Van Houtte has acquired since the beginning of its fiscal year in April. In all, the companies acquired by Van Houtte since April 3, including the above, bring in annual sales of $12.1 million, with an EBITDA of $2.6 million. Van Houtte paid a total of $9.4 million for all 14 of them.

“These acquisitions are part of our strategy to consolidate the market, which remains highly fragmented, especially in the United States,” explained Monette. “Half of Van Houtte’s growth is through acquisitions, and the other half is organic.” FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This press release contains forward-looking statements reflecting Van Houtte’s objectives, estimates and expectations. Such statements may be marked by the use of verbs such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate” and “expect” as well as the use of the future or conditional tense. By their very nature, such statements involve risks and uncertainty. Consequently, results could differ materially from the Company’s projections or expectations. For information on the nature of risk factors not specifically discussed in this press release, the reader can consult Van Houtte’s 2005 Annual Report under the heading “Risks and Uncertainties,” p. 28.

ABOUT VAN HOUTTE Founded in 1919, Van Houtte is one of North America's leading gourmet coffee roasters, marketers and distributors. The Company roasts and markets its gourmet coffees across Canada and the U.S. through distribution channels that include coffee services, retail stores, caf�-bistros and online shopping.

-30- Information: G�rard Geoffrion, Executive Vice-President & CFO Van Houtte Inc.

(514) 593-7711 Sylvain Laberge Barry Mire Renmark Financial Communications (514) 939-3989

Van Houtte News and Press Releases

This article has been read 2982 times.

Would you like to own a Van Houtte Franchise?

For more information about becoming a Van Houtte Franchise owner, including a franchise overview, start-up costs, fees, training and more, please visit our Van Houtte Franchise Information page.