Starbucks and Green Mountain in tie-up talks

by **Strawberry** Mon Feb 14, 2011 5:49 pm

(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters are in partnership negotiations, a source close to the talks told Reuters on Monday, sending Green Mountain shares to a lifetime high.

Starbucks, the world's biggest coffee chain, has been looking for growth beyond its namesake cafes and wants to be a big player in the new and fast-growing single-serve coffee segment. Green Mountain dominates the U.S. single-cup market with its Keurig brewer.

Starbucks said on Sunday that it planned to announce a new product for the single-cup coffee market in the near future, reviving speculation of a tie-up between the two companies.

The person close to the partnership talks would not say if the pending announcement would involve Green Mountain, and declined to describe the type of partnership that Starbucks and Green Mountain were exploring.

A Starbucks spokesman declined comment on the negotiations. ...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/14/us-starbucks-greenmountain-idUSTRE71D6B720110214