Caribou Coffee & Shari'ah Law

Here is all the reason I need to drink Starbucks coffee. - jtf.
http://www.cariboucoffee.com/aboutus/ownership.asp

Information on Caribou’s Ownership

Caribou Coffee became a public company after our initial public offering priced on September 28, 2005.

Our majority shareholder since 2000 is an affiliate of Arcapita Bank B.S.C.(c), a global investment group founded in 1997 with offices in Atlanta, London and Bahrain, a strong U.S. ally in the Middle East and the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5 th Fleet. Following our initial public offering, Arcapita continues to own approximately 61% of our outstanding common stock.

Arcapita Bank has provided Caribou with the necessary resources for continuing to expand our store base in the U.S. Arcapita has total assets of over $1.2 billion and has executed transactions valued at over $7 billion in three main lines of business – corporate investment (private equity), real estate investment and asset-based investment. Arcapita’s corporate investment line of business has invested over $1 billion in equity across 17 transactions totaling over $2 billion in transaction value. Current and past corporate investments span a broad range of industries, including consumer products, healthcare, specialized manufacturing and technology. Portfolio companies include Cypress Communications (a telecommunications provider), Church’s Chicken (a quick service restaurant chain), Cirrus Industries (a general aviation aircraft manufacturer), Loehmann’s (a specialty retailer) and TLC Health Care Services (a national home nursing provider).

Arcapita, whose investors are located primarily in the Middle East , makes its investments in a manner consistent with the body of Islamic principles known as Shari’ah. Consequently, we operate our business in a manner consistent with Shari’ah principles and will continue to do so as long as Arcapita is a significant shareholder.

In particular, we must comply with Shari’ah principles regarding money that we borrow from other parties. For example, our lease financing arrangement, under which we have obtained financing to fund our operations and expand our business, is structured in a manner that complies with Shari’ah principles. The structure of this lease financing arrangement is described in the prospectus relating to our initial public offering. Also, a Shari’ah-compliant company is prohibited from dealing in the areas of alcohol, gambling, pornography, pork and pork-related products.

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