FILE - In this March 8, 2010, file photo, an employee passes an order to a customer at a Panera Bread store in Brookline, Mass. Panera is being acquired by Europeâ s JAB Holding Co. for more than $7 billion. JAB is better known for the growing stable of brands it owns, including a controlling stake in Peetâ s Coffee & Tea, most of Caribou Coffee Co., Stumptown Coffee and Keurig Green Mountain. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Panera Bread Acquired by Same Company That Owns Krispy Kreme

BY Tim Spears Winston-Salem

PUBLISHED 11:56 AM ET Apr. 05, 2017

ST. LOUIS -- A multi-billion dollar deal will bring Panera Bread under the same ownership as Winston-Salem-based Krispy Kreme

Investment firm JAB, which bought Krispy Kreme just last year, will pay around $7.5 billion to acquire Panera.

The sale has a price tag of $315 per share plus $340 million in acquired debt.

Panera Bread was trading around $230 per share just one month ago though the stock has jumped since rumors of the sale broke.

JAB said it will make Panera a private company.

It's unclear what JAB plans to do with Panera, which has more than 2,000 locations.

The investment firm says Panera's current executive team will remain after the deal is expected to close later this year.

JAB bought Krispy Kreme in May of last year for $1.35 billion.