A person familiar with the matter revealed to the Wall Street Journal that Coca-Cola will acquire a full stake in sports drink manufacturer BodyArmor for $5.6 billion, and the valuation of BodyArmor will reach about $8 billion after the completion of this transaction, and the transaction may be finalized in the next few weeks.
In 2018, Coca-Cola bought a minority stake in BodyArmor, becoming the second-largest shareholder after BodyArmor co-founder Mike Repole. Rappel also founded vitamin drink company Glaceau, and Coca-Cola acquired Glacier in 2007 for $4.1 billion. Today, Coca-Cola owns a 30 percent stake in BodyArmor and is buying the remaining 70 percent from Rapper and investors, including NBA star James Harden and MLB star Mike Trout and a number of professional athletes.
In February, beverage industry media outlet Beverage Digest found that Coca-Cola had filed an announcement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to increase its stake in BodyArmor to gain a controlling stake in the company. It is not difficult to imagine that the competition between BodyArmor and Gatorade will continue to intensify after the acquisition. Previously, Coca-Cola already owned the sports drink Powerade, but according to Euromonitor Information Consulting, even with the addition of BodyArmor, Coca-Cola's products only account for about 23% of the sports beverage market, far behind Gatorade's 68%.
Recently, Coca-Cola released its third quarter performance report until October 1, with net operating income up 16% year-on-year to $10 billion, of which the sports beverage division increased by 5% year-on-year. According to Nielsen, BodyArmor's sales exceeded $1 billion as of February 6, 2021, up 43.4% year-over-year.
Extended Reading:
