Panera Reunites with Au Bon Pain

3 Min Read By MRM Staff

To intensify growth in new real estate channels, including hospitals, universities, transportation centers and urban locations, Panera Bread entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Au Bon Pain Holding Co. Inc., parent company of Au Bon Pain. The Boston-based bakery-cafe chain has 304 units worldwide.

The acquisition will bring Au Bon Pain and Panera together again. Ron Shaich, Panera’s founder, Chairman and CEO, and his late partner Louis Kane created Au Bon Pain Co. Inc. in 1981. The company went public in 1991 and acquired Saint Louis Bread Company in 1993. Saint Louis Bread was renamed Panera and, in 1999, Au Bon Pain was sold so that all human and capital resources available at that time could be focused on Panera.

“With the acquisition we are announcing today, we are bringing Au Bon Pain and Panera together again," said Schaich. "This acquisition offers the strategic opportunity for us to grow in several new real estate channels, including hospitals, universities…