Coca-Cola moves to burst SodaStream’s bubble with $1.25b stake in competitor
| Haaretz Feb. 6, 2014
▻http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.572752
Israel’s SodaStream, which has suffered a rough month amid profit warnings and the controversy over its West Bank factory, got some more bad news on Wednesday when Coca-Cola said it would be buying a stake in a company readying to launch a cold drink machine for home use.
The world’s biggest maker of soft drinks – whose products have been targeted by SodaStream commercials – is taking a 10% stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, best known for its popular Keurig one-cup coffee brewer. Coke will pay $1.25 billion for the stake and help launch Green Mountain’s new cold drink machine planned for release as soon as October.
Shares of Green Mountain soared 42% to $114.85 in extended trading, while those of SodaStream, retreated 3.9% to $34.39 after hours trading on the Nasdaq.