Littlejohn & Co. Completes Sale of Van Houtte to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. for CAD$915 Million

GREENWICH, Conn., Dec. 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Littlejohn & Co., LLC, a Greenwich, CT private investment firm, today announced that it has completed the sale of Van Houtte, one of North America's leading gourmet coffee roasters, marketers and distributors, to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (Nasdaq: GMCR), for CAD$915 million.

Littlejohn invested in Van Houtte from its $850MM Littlejohn Fund III, L.P. in a 2007 take-private transaction for approximately CAD$600 million. Based in Montreal, Van Houtte is one of North America's leading gourmet coffee roasters, marketers and distributors.  During Littlejohn's ownership, Van Houtte was successfully repositioned as operational improvements and investments in branding, marketing and innovation resulted in a significant expansion of business outside of its traditional base in the province of Quebec.

David Simon, Managing Director of Littlejohn, said, "We are very pleased to have played a key role in transforming Van Houtte over the past three years.  The Van Houtte sale has produced a solid return for our investors."  Antonio Miranda, a Principal at Littlejohn, added, "Management did a tremendous job delivering on the company's underlying potential.  We believe Van Houtte will continue to grow as part of Green Mountain."

About Littlejohn & Co., LLC

Littlejohn & Co. is a Greenwich, Connecticut-based control-oriented private equity firm seeking investment opportunities in middle-market companies that are undergoing a fundamental change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth that can benefit from its operational and strategic approach.  The firm is currently investing from Littlejohn Fund IV, L.P., which has over $1.3 billion in capital commitments. For more information, visit www.littlejohnllc.com.

SOURCE Littlejohn & Co., LLC