With soft drink sales stagnating as more health-conscious consumers switch to lower-calorie premium beverages, Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is looking for a piece of the action. After the February acquisition of Fuze, Coke is looking at privately-held beverage companies including Glaceau [subscription required], the maker of vitamin water and Arizona Teas, the best iced tea company out there.
While Coke has been delivering slow and reliable growth, Glaceau's has been extremely rapid of late, doubling its cases sold in 2006. Glaceau's price-tag of $2 billion might seem expensive, but it's the number one brand in a category that is expected to account for 22% of North American beverage sales over the next five years, making it second in volume only to bottled water.
With Hansen Natural (NASDAQ: HANS) and Jones Soda (NASDAQ: JSDA) valued at $3.5 billion and $681 million respectively, $2 billion for Vitamin Water might not be so bad.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-19-2007 @ 12:06AM
Patricia Rico said...
Did coke buy Glaceau and when will they change hands.