ATLANTA — Coca-Cola Co. has acquired a 16.7% stake in Monster Beverage Corp. as part of a previously announced strategic partnership in the global energy drink category.
The beverage companies said late Friday that under the deal, Coca-Cola transferred ownership of its worldwide energy business — including NOS, Full Throttle, Burn, Mother, BU, Gladiator, Samurai, Nalu, BPM, Play and Power Play, Ultra and Relentless — to Monster.
Meanwhile, Corona, Calif.-based Monster transferred its non-energy business — including Hansen’s Natural Sodas, Peace Tea, Hubert’s Lemonade and Hansen’s Juice Products — to Coca-Cola.
Also as part of the deal, Coca-Cola made a net cash payment of about $2.15 billion to Monster.
The companies said that since the transaction was announced, they and their bottlers have amended their distribution arrangements in the United States and Canada by expanding into more territories and entering into long-term agreements. Coca-Cola also has become Monster’s preferred global distribution partner, with new international distribution commitments already in place with bottlers in Germany and Norway.
Monster also announced Friday that, with the partnership, Coca-Cola executive vice president and chief financial officer Kathy Waller and Gary Fayard, former executive vice president and CFO at Coca-Cola, have joined Monster’s board of directors, expanding it to 10 members.
