Au Bon Pain Reunites With Panera Bread

Soup and sandwich restaurant chain Panera Bread has purchased 304-unit cafe/bakery company Au Bon Pain, which was once spun off from the Panera business by founder Ron Shaich. JAB Holding Co., a family-held European company, purchased publicly-held Panera earlier this year for $7.5 billion and took it private. JAB owns the coffee brands Keurig Green Mountain, Peet’s Coffee, and Caribou Coffee, and last year paid $1.35 billion for the Krispy Kreme Doughnuts chain. Shaich will step down as Panera CEO in January.