Food and beverage company Chobani has acquired speciality coffee roaster and café chain La Colombe in the US for $900m.

La Colombe owns and operates 32 cafés across the country. Its locations include Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

Among its offerings are its signature blends, single-origin coffees and the textured canned cold latte.

La Colombe's celebrated coffees are also available in cafés, hotels, restaurants and retailers across the globe.

Chobani funded the acquisition through a newly issued $550m term loan, cash in hand and the exchange of Keurig Dr Pepper's (KDP) minority equity stake in La Colombe into Chobani equity.

La Colombe will continue to operate as an independent business entity.

Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya stated: “At a time where the industry has faced challenges to grow sales, Chobani has delivered double-digit, volume-led sales growth and considerable margin expansion. We have never been stronger or better positioned to chart our next chapter of growth.

“We've already made an investment in the coffee category with our creamers and are excited about bringing La Colombe into the Chobani family, and offering the delicious, high-quality cold brew and ready-to-drink craftmanship of La Colombe to the next generation of consumers, powered by a strong distribution partner in KDP.”

The deal will allow Chobani to enter a ready-to-drink coffee category and further its evolution into a diversified next-generation food and beverage company.

KDP chairman and CEO Bob Gamgort said: “La Colombe is a unique brand and well positioned to continue its strong growth trajectory, including upside as its ready-to-drink line expands availability through our company-owned DSD [direct store delivery] network and with premium K-Cup pods now in the market.

“Both as a strategic partner and a minority shareholder, we are excited by the path ahead.”