Coca-Cola to acquire minority stake in Body Armor
The Coca-Cola Co. and Body Armor have entered into a definitive agreement through which Coca-Cola will acquire a minority ownership stake in Body Armor.
The Coca-Cola Co. and Body Armor have entered into a definitive agreement through which Coca-Cola will acquire a minority ownership stake in Body Armor. Through the agreement, Body Armor will have the opportunity to gain access to the expansive Coca-Cola bottling system, enabling the brand to accelerate its growth to meet consumer demand for its line of sports performance and hydration drinks.
The initial investment is uniquely structured to create value for both companies and allow Coca-Cola to increase its ownership stake in the future under defined terms. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Through the transaction, Coca-Cola will become the second largest shareowner in Body Armor, behind Mike Repole, Body Armor co-founder and chairman.
The investment will be part of the Coca-Cola North America Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) investment portfolio. The brand will continue to operate independently under Repole’s leadership and his management team.
“I am extremely excited about this agreement because the Coca-Cola system has an amazing track record of growing explosive brands that consumers love and allowing entrepreneurial start-ups like Body Armor to continue to be independent and focused on achieving the aggressive growth goals that we set out to achieve when we launched this amazing brand in 2011,” said Repole.