Coca Cola wants to take over sports drink manufacturer BodyArmor

01-Nov-2021 - USA

Drinks giant Coca-Cola <US1912161007> is reportedly looking to acquire sports drinks maker BodyArmor. The group is close to increasing its existing stake to a majority stake, Bloomberg news agency reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. BodyArmor is said to be valued at eight billion dollars (6.86 billion euros) in the negotiations.

A Coca-Cola spokesman declined to comment, and BodyArmor did not respond when asked, according to Bloomberg.

Coca-Cola previously acquired a minority stake in the company, which was founded in 2011, three years ago and has since been the second-largest shareholder behind founder Mike Repole. As early as the end of February, Coca-Cola is said to have filed an application to be allowed to exercise the option to acquire the remaining ownership stake, according to the report. The deal could now close in the coming weeks if approved by regulators, Bloomberg further reports.

The acquisition would accelerate sales growth in Coca-Cola's drinking, sports and coffee segment. The division grew six percent last quarter, about the same as sales of its carbonated beverages, but half as much as the nutrition, juices and dairy segment.

In addition, Coca-Cola's acquisition could narrow the gap somewhat with rival Pepsico <US7134481081>. The latter's flagship sports drink Getorade is the market leader with 68 per cent market share, according to market research firm Euromonitor.

With its sports drink Powerade and shares of BodyArmor, Coca-Cola would have 23 percent of the market./lew/ngu/stk (dpa)

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1173331/coca-cola-wants-to-take-over-sports-drink-manufacturer-bodyarmor.html