What do Panera and Krispy Kreme have in common?
The Luxembourg investment fund has controlling interests in Peet's Coffee & Tea, Caribou Coffee Co., Stumptown Coffee and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.
If and when the deal closes, Panera will be a privately-held company not required to file quarterly financial reports for investors.
Shares are up 50 percent this year and on Wednesday, the company said that sales rose 5.3 percent at established company-owned locations in the first quarter, outperforming the broader restaurant industry.
Shaich opened a Boston cookie store in the early 1980s and expanded to more than 2,000 bakery-cafes with annual revenue of $5 billion in sales.