Coke To Buy Vitaminwater
The Coca-Cola Company announced today that it will buy Glaceau, the maker of Vitaminwater, for $4.2 billion in cash. The acquisition has been expected for weeks, as Coke pursued Glaceau, which is also known as Energy Brands, to upgrade its portfolio of noncarbonated beverages, the sales of which have been growing much faster than soda in the United States in recent years. Glaceau is based in Whitestone, Queens. Last year, an Indian tea company, Tata Tea, bought a 30% in Energy Brands for $677 million. At that time, a Tata executive told Dow Jones that Glaceau’s revenue for the year would be $355 million and would jump to $700 million in 2007. The company sold 77 million 192-ounce cases last year, a standard industry measure, according to Beverage Digest, a 103% increase over the previous year.
In America, soft drinks account for 67% of the nonalcoholic beverage business, with bottled water making up 17% and other noncarbonated beverages, 16%, Beverage Digest said. But in 2006, soft drink volumes declined slightly while bottled water was up 17% and other non-carbonated drinks increased 13%.
