A unique partnership of long-term investors in consumer goods & services

10 Year Investment Letter
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Half Year Report 2023
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About JAB

Our Heritage

The history of JAB dates back to the early 19th Century, when predecessors of the Reimann family established Benckiser, a chemical and industrial manufacturing company based in Germany.

During the early part of the 20th century, Benckiser was a small to medium sized business, primarily a supplier to the food industry, and its main products included processed cheese, salts for blood treatment, supplements for baby food, and chemicals to soften water.

In the 1980s the company expanded as it acquired and integrated its European and North American household products business and cosmetics companies, before spinning off cosmetics into Coty Inc. in 1996. In 1999, it merged Benckiser with Reckitt & Colman to form the consumer goods business Reckitt Benckiser.

In 2012, JAB Holding Company was formed as a partner-led investment firm, with the consolidation of all business assets, and its portfolio has expanded to the present day.

For more background on the history of Benckiser from the 1920s to the 1940s, please visit the ALFRED LANDECKER FOUNDATION website.

Team

Our leadership team

JAB is overseen by its leadership team including our three Managing Partners, Olivier Goudet (CEO), Peter Harf (Chairman) and Joachim Creus (Vice Chairman), together with eight (Senior) Partners, our CFO and Head of Responsible and Sustainable Investing.

Olivier Goudet

Managing Partner, CEO

Mr Goudet joined JAB as CEO and Managing Partner in 2012. Mr Goudet is the key architect of JAB's Investment Platform strategy, and has led a $40+ billion increase in managed capital in the last 10 years. He is currently the Chairman of Krispy Kreme, JDE Peet's and Pret a Manger, and is a member of the Board of Directors of several other portfolio companies, including Keurig Dr Pepper, Coty, NVA and Panera. He previously spent 20 years at Mars as EVP and CFO, and served as Chairman of Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Peter Harf

Managing Partner, Chairman

Mr Harf joined JAB in 1981 and is the visionary and founder of the current investment firm structure created in 2012. Over the past 40+ years, he has overseen JAB as its managed capital grew from $100 million to over $50 billion. Mr Harf has been CEO and Chairman of several of JAB's portfolio companies, and is currently Chairman of Coty and a member of the Board of Directors of JDE Peet's and Keurig Dr Pepper. He is also the Founder of Delete Blood Cancer (DKMS), a global organization dedicated to fighting blood cancer with over 10 million registered donors. Mr Harf previously served as Chairman of Anheuser-Busch InBev and as a member of the Board of Directors of Burger King.

Joachim Creus

Managing Partner,
Vice Chairman

Mr Creus joined JAB in 2010 and has played a critical role in building it into a global investment firm. He has been at the center of JAB’s major investments and expansion initiatives, including all of its platform acquisitions and the creation of JAB Consumer Partners. A lawyer by training, he has 20+ years of experience in M&A, complex cross-border legal and tax matters, and equity and debt financing. Mr Creus serves as a Director on the Board of many JAB companies, including JDE Peet’s and Coty. Prior to joining JAB, he held senior legal & tax positions at Siemens, Rödl & Partner and Tiberghien Lawyers.

David Bell

Senior Partner

Mr Bell is in his 12th year at JAB, having joined in 2012. Over the past eleven years he has led substantially all of JAB's major portfolio transactions. He has over 30 years of investment, oversight and business strategy experience, which includes spending four years at Mars driving Corporate Strategy and M&A, and eight years in the Consumer Investment Banking Group at Goldman Sachs.

Frank Engelen

Senior Partner

Mr Engelen joined JAB in 2020. Previously, he was a partner at PwC for 15+ years, of which five years as a member of the Management Board of the Dutch firm responsible for the Advisory business, and two years as director and member of the Executive Board of PwC Europe. He has 25+years of experience in consumer goods and financial services. At PwC, Mr. Engelen was a trusted advisor of JAB since 2013.

Ricardo Rittes

Senior Partner

Mr Rittes joined JAB in 2019 and brings 20+ years of financial risk management and capital markets experience. He started his career as an investment banker in London, New York and Latin America, and subsequently spent 14 years as part of a small leadership team building AB InBev in New York, Brussels and Latin America. At AB InBev, he served as the finance VP responsible for cash flow integration, banking relationships and treasury. In that capacity, he partnered with rating agencies and financial institutions across the world, and executed $75+ billion worth of financings. He also served as CFO of Ambev and led its successful expansion in Central America.

Trevor Ashley

Partner

Mr Ashley joined JAB in 2016 and has led many of the firm’s important investments, including in Petcare and Coffee & Beverages. He brings almost 20 years of M&A experience in the consumer sector, having begun his career in consumer investment banking at Piper Jaffray & Co., followed by ten years in consumer private equity at Rosewood Capital and Glenbrook Consumer Partners.

Patricia Capel

Partner

Ms Capel joined JAB in 2021 following 25 years at AB InBev and Ambev, and most recently led AB InBev’s commercial operations in Chile, Bolivia and Paraguay. She has extensive global experience, including in the United States, Russia, Latin America, Belgium and Canada. At AB InBev, she held numerous roles including VP of Global People, and was a member of the ABI Global Diversity & Inclusion Council. Ms Capel also previously worked at PwC and Cargill Agricola.

Rafael Cunha

Chief Financial Officer

Mr Cunha joined JAB in 2019 and is its Chief Financial Officer. He has approx. 15 years of investment and finance experience, and played a key role in JAB's fixed income and capital markets initiatives over the past years. Prior to JAB, he held various finance roles in consumer & healthcare private equity and was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Rafael holds an MBA from Stanford University.

Konrad Meyer

Partner

Mr Meyer joined JAB in 2018. He brings 15+ years of industry and investment expertise, and previously served as Investment Director of Waterland Private Equity and as interim CFO of Pret a Manger.

Yoana Nenova

Head of Responsible and Sustainable Investing

Ms Nenova joined JAB in 2014 and leads JAB’s Responsible and Sustainable Investing efforts. She has 10+ years of investment experience in the consumer space, and played a key role in the development of JAB’s Fast-Casual Restaurant platform. Prior to JAB, Yoana was part of the Consumer team at UBS Investment bank in London.

Lubomira Rochet

Partner

Ms Rochet joined JAB in 2021. She previously spent seven years as Chief Digital Officer and member of the Executive Committee at L'Oréal, where she led the beauty giant's marketing and commercial pivot to a digital-first company. She is a recognized leader in digital business transformation, with extensive global experience across multiple industries. Ms Rochet has also held senior roles at Microsoft and Valtech, a digital marketing agency.

Jacek Szarzynski

Partner

Mr Szarzynski joined JAB in 2019 after 20+ years at Mars, where he held various senior Finance, Demand and Supply positions. During his career, he consistently achieved above-market growth while delivering significant margin improvement, and is currently translating that experience to JAB’s Fast Casual Restaurants investment platform. He also has a strong passion for ESG.

Our Investment Platforms

Since the formation of JAB Holding Company in 2012, we have diversified our investment portfolio by expanding into different categories in the consumer goods and services sectors.Through our Global Investment Platforms, we control businesses that operate in multiple segments. Each business has established its own robust business model and strategy by leveraging industry-leading brands and a tailored products and services portfolio. These brands are distributed through a variety of channels in different geographies, and, as a result, address the needs of a broad consumer base.