Minnesota's largest and the country's second largest Coffee chain has reportedly been bought by a German holding company, the Benckiser Group (JAB), for approximately $340 million. The Benckiser group reportedly offered $16 per share to Caribou coffee, reported Reuters.

The Joh A Benckiser group (JAB) is a German investment firm with massive holdings in many retail brands.

Caribou Coffee has 610 outlets in 22 states across the country and has ventures in 10 international markets. Adding these outlets to the already existing JAB's- Peet's Coffee and Tea outlets, the group would now have 800 outlets to its credit. Starbucks now has 1,100 outlets, reported Reuters.

JAB had taken over Peet's Coffee and Tea Inc., earlier in 2011.

However, Caribou Coffee said that it will continue to operate independently with its own management and team members once the buyout is closed. The headquarters of Caribou Coffee will be located in Minneapolis and expects a growth of 6 to 8 percent for the coming year, reported Huffington Post.

"Caribou has a fantastic brand and unique culture, and fits perfectly with JAB's investment philosophy of investing in premium and unique brands in attractive growth categories like coffee," Bart Becht, JAB's chairman, told The Seattle Times.

 "JAB is committed to investing in Caribou as a stand-alone business out of Minneapolis to ensure the company continues its current highly successful track record." he added.

"Investing in a growing premium coffee space is the overarching theme here, and Caribou is a very cheap way to do that," Will Slabaugh, analyst at Stephens Inc told Reuters.

The takeover was unanimously approved by the directors of Caribou Coffee, reported Huffington Post.