Starbucks, AgriNurture contest Tully’s sale to Patrick Dempsey

A company that teamed up with Starbucks Corp. to bid for the Tully’s Coffee chain filed an objection Wednesday challenging the winning offer made by “Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey.

AgriNurture Inc. said it’s still willing to proceed with its combined bid with Starbucks of about $10.6 million. The bid from Dempsey’s company, Global Baristas LLC, was for $9.2 million.

Tully’s founder Tom Tully O’Keefe, who retired from the company in 2010, but still is a shareholder, told Seattle’s Morning News, like “most things in business it ain’t until it’s over, and the court doesn’t finalize everything until this Friday.”

The proposed sale goes before a bankruptcy judge in Seattle on Friday.

Starbucks has said it wants to convert some of Tully’s cafes to its own brand. AgriNurture, based in the Philippines, would run the rest under the Tully’s name.

Cliff Burrows, who heads Starbucks’ Americas business, said he’s confident the company put forth the best bid with its companion bidder to give shareholders the most value.

Dempsey said he’s confident the court will decide that Global Baristas submitted “the highest and best bid.”

AgriNurture, which also does business in the U.S. as Earthright Holdings Inc., already operates Tully’s franchises in Asia.

Another bidder has also filed an objection to the sale, saying the rules changed in the middle of the auction.

O’Keefe said he just wants to see the decision be the best one for Tully’s shareholders and employees.

“We just want to make sure we take care of our people, shareholders and employees,” said O’Keefe. “The big challenge of course is whomever buys it, who is going to run the business, because that is the key consideration, get the right team in to run the business.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.