Aug 25 (Reuters) - U.S. soft drinks giant Keurig Dr Pepper is set to create a global coffee giant to rival market leader Nestle with an $18 billion takeover of JDE Peet’s , Europe’s largest acquisition in more than two years.

The deal, announced on Monday and offering a 20% premium to JDE Peet’s closing market price on Friday, proposes splitting the merged entity’s coffee operations and other beverage businesses into two separate publicly U.S.-listed companies, as the Dutch company would be delisted from the Amsterdam stock exchange.