McDreamy Might Not Be Acquiring Tully's After All
Money can't buy love. Or a coffee chain, it turns out. Image via ABC.
My what drama this Tully's acquisition has bequeathed.
Last week Patrick Dempsey, aka McDreamy of Grey's Anatomy, announced his investor group had beat out Starbucks ("the green monster," to use his words) in acquiring bankrupt coffee chain Tully's with a $9.15 million bid.
Now the Seattle Times reports Starbucks is fighting back. On Friday a bankruptcy court will consider a rebuttal filed by Tully’s franchisee AgriNurture. The Mermaid is standing behind the motion for obvious reasons: Previously Starbucks and AgriNurture together had offered to buy 47 Tully's locations for $10.56 million. Were that to go through, Starbucks would acquire 25 of those stores and rebrand them accordingly.
According to the Times another bidder, Neon T Coffee Shops, filed an objection on Wednesday as well. The party cited concerns over the undue publicity the acquisition has generated.
Dempsey, for his part, remains unfazed. In a statement he is quoted as saying, "We remain confident that the court will reach the right decision and find that Global Baristas LLC submitted the highest and best bid." (Global Baristas LLC is his investor group.)
