Stumptown's Owners Working on Deal to Sell Company, Writes Wall Street Journal

TSG Consumer Partners had bought a majority stake in 2011

ROASTED: Stumptown founder Duane Sorenson.

Stumptown Coffee Roasters may be getting sold... again. The Wall Street Journal reports (article behind paywall) that owner TSG Consumer Partners LLC is cooking up a deal to sell its majority stake in the Portland-based coffee retailer and roaster, a pioneer in the third-wave coffee boom.

As Willamette Week and Esquire.com first reported back in 2011, Stumptown founder Duane Sorenson sold an estimated 90 percent majority stake in Stumptown Coffee Roasters to private-equity firm TSG Consumer Partners, already known for growing and flipping its investment properties. The company expressed an interest in eventually selling Stumptown at the time.

Sorenson has remained CEO of the company in the four years since selling a majority stake—although First Beverage Co.'s Joth Ricci came on as president—as the company expanded into the retail cold-brew coffee market nationwide, along with opening cafes in New York and Los Angeles. 

Sorenson, meanwhile, has increasingly taken on the role of restaurateur, opening multiple eateries along Stumptown's original southeast Division Street home, including the Woodsman Tavern and Market, Roman Candle and our 2013 Restaurant of the Year runner-up, Ava Gene's.

The Wall Street Journal article by Gillian Tan and Leslie Josephs was thin on details, however, and Duane Sorenson did not immediately return requests for comment. 

From the piece:

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