An Arkansas-based coffee chain is continuing its pursuit to acquire Salad and Go’s assets, which could upend a deal that had already been reached between Salad and Go and Dutch Bros.
The move follows a court hearing on Aug. 7, when a lawyer for 7 Brew said the company had submitted a better offer than Dutch Bros to acquire 65 of Salad and Go’s leases.
In a court hearing on Aug. 18, Omar Alaniz, a lawyer representing Salad and Go, said 7 Brew submitted an offer and has “proactively engaged” with Salad and Go multiple times since the first court hearing. Alaniz said he expected to receive another offer from 7 Brew on Aug. 18.
Alaniz said the board has received multiple proposals from 7 Brew since the Aug. 7 hearing, which have been carefully considered.
According to 7 Brew’s website, the chain has two Arizona locations, both in Tucson. Like Salad and Go, the locations have a small footprint without a kitchen hood. It has more than 700 locations nationwide.
According to documents filed by Salad and Go, it assessed 16 potential buyers and determined that three, Dutch Bros and two competitors, were the most likely candidates. A representative from Salad and Go visited both top contenders in July.
The top two were Dutch Bros and 7 Brew. Salad and Go selected Dutch Bros and opened escrow with the company for the sale. Dutch Bros submitted a $10 million deposit into an escrow account. The overall value of the deal is $105 million, according to court documents.
After details of the deal were publicized, Ross Fiedler, an attorney representing 7 Brew, spoke at the Aug. 7 hearing, claiming 7 Brew’s offer was better.
At the Aug. 18 hearing, Alaniz said he could see three possible paths forward for the sale of 65 Salad and Go leases.
The first option is to move ahead with the planned sale to Dutch Bros, with the possibility that 7 Brew could ask the court to halt the sale.
The second option would be to hold an auction between Dutch Bros and 7 Brew, if Dutch Bros agreed.
The third would be to hold an auction without Dutch Bros agreeing, but that option would likely mean Dutch Bros would terminate its purchase agreement.
“In that case, the board would have to have a very high level of confidence of the 7 Brew closing its transactions, having lost a bird in the hand, so to speak,” Alaniz said in the court hearing.
Alaniz said the Salad and Go board will need to analyze each option closely. If it does decide to go to auction, it would make the notification before a planned Sept. 1 hearing to discuss the sale.
The sale in question does not include all of Salad and Go’s assets, instead encompassing about 65 of a total 140. The other leases are already planned to be auctioned. Those in Arizona and Nevada will be sold Oct. 1, and those in Texas and Oklahoma will be sold Oct. 2.
Corina Vanek covers development for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X @CorinaVanek.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Salad and Go weighs coffee chain's rival bid to Dutch Bros purchase
