Pret a Manger bosses are about to get a very big payout

Lucrative sums are in store for the founders and executives of Pret a Manger following the sale of the sandwich chain to German investors.

Co-founder Sinclair Beecham will be hoping to take home more than £200m from the deal, while chief executive Clive Schlee looks set to receive £30m.

All 12,000 employees at the company will also be getting a £1,000 bonus once the £1.5bn sale to Krispy Kreme owner JAB Holdings is completed.

Read more: Pret's brand perception is on the up after bonus announcements

Julian Metcalfe, who founded the sandwich chain in 1986 alongside Beecham at university, also stands to make a hefty profit form the purchase. Metcalfe, 58, now heads sushi chain Itsu and is already worth an estimated £164m.

A majority stake was sold to the current British private equity owners Bridgepoint in 2008 for roughly £350m.

The group now operates 530 stores worldwide, generating revenues of £879 million.

Read more: Smell the coffee: Pret A Manger sold after 10 years with Bridgepoint

JAB Holdings, a Luxembourg-based investment fund owned by the billionaire Reimann family, has acquired Pret from Bridgepoint and adds the sandwich shops to a portfolio that already includes Dr Pepper, Krispy Kreme and Snapple.

Over the last five years, the firm has also developed the world's second-largest coffee business, controlling chains like Peet's and Espresso House, as well as packaged brands including Kenco and Douwe Egberts.

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