Carbonated drink manufacturer Coca-Cola has purchased a 16.7% stake in the Monster beverage company. Coca-Cola will pay $2.15 billion and transfer its energy drink brands (Burn, Mother, Relentless, Power Play, Full Throttle, and NOS to Monster, the energy beverage company known for its Monster line. In exchange, Monster will transfer its Hansen’s Juice Products, Natural Sodas, Hubert’s Lemonade, and Peace Tea over to Coca-Cola.
The deal is also excellent for two Coca-Cola members, who will now sit on Monster’s Board of Directors. Coca-Cola will also become the main distributor for Monster.
The deal is excellent for Coca-Cola, seeing that its energy drink business has not been bustling much, and Monster’s been rather successful with its energy drink line. Monster sells energy drinks well, but the company’s tea, lemonade, and soda lines have not been marketed as successfully as they could be. Coca-Cola is a master in the soda collection, but the company’s global soda profits fell for the first time in 15 years (since 1999) in Q1 2014.
This transaction makes the second major stake buy-in this year for Coca-Cola, as the company also purchased a 10% stake in coffee and tea manufacturer Keurig Green Mountain Inc. for $1.25 billion.
Coca-Cola and Monster will finalize their deal either at the end of 2014 or by early 2015. Coca-Cola once made a mono-flavored soda beverage that bore its name, but the company has branched out within the last decade to create other-flavored Coca-Cola beverages such as Cherry Coke, Vanilla Coke, Cherry Vanilla Coke, Coke Zero, Caffeine-Free Coke, Orange Coke Zero, and other products that are sold both in local stores, at restaurants, and convenience stores across the world.
