(Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co is nearing a deal to buy a controlling stake in sports drink maker BodyArmor, valuing it at about $8 billion, Bloomberg News reported https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-28/coca-cola-is-said-to-near-deal-valuing-bodyarmor-at-8-billion?utm_source=google&utm_medium=bd&cmpId=google&sref=I5jUJbND on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The deal could be finalized in coming weeks, the report said.
Coca-Cola said it does not comment on rumors or speculation, while BodyArmor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Coca-Cola bought a minority stake in BodyArmor in 2018, becoming the brand’s second largest shareholder.
The late basketball player Kobe Bryant was one of BodyArmor’s earliest investors https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bodyarmor-investment-coca-cola-idUSKBN1KZ166, buying a stake in 2013, just two years after it was launched.
Coca-Cola has been streamlining its products in recent months to focus on its fast-moving beverages as consumers pick up more of its traditional sodas and flavoured sparkling waters as they come out of the pandemic.
The beverage giant discontinued its own Coca-Cola Energy drink in North America in May, but retained its majority stake in Monster Beverage Corp, one of the top energy drink makers in the United States.
In 2018, it bought coffee chain Costa https://www.reuters.com/article/us-whitbread-m-a-coca-cola-idUSKCN1LG0LG for $5.1 billion, marking both a push into the booming coffee market and its first foray into operating a retail chain.
(Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu and Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Akriti Sharma; Editing by Jane Wardell)
