- The buyout of Keurig Green Mountain (NASDAQ:GMCR) is creating a buzz in the beverage sector.
- Shares of GMCR are up 74% to $89.91 vs. the deal price of $92. The moonshot in share price is a positive for Coca-Cola (KO +0.2%) which owns a 17% block and not so great for Greenlight Capital which went short (for the second time) when shares were in the triple-digits.
- SodaStream (SODA +9.8%) and Coffee Holding (JVA +11.9%) are both up sharply with the M&A in the sector raising their profile.
- Coffee names Farmer Brothers (FARM +0.9%) and TreeHouse Foods (THS +0.8%) are also ahead of broad market averages. National Beverage Corp. (FIZZ +1.4%) is catching some bids as it Coca-Cola distributor Embotalledora (AKO.A, AKO.B) with a +1.2% gain.
- An interesting side note on the deal is if it could impact ongoing speculation over a Mondelez International (MDLZ -0.6%) and PepsiCo (PEP +0.1%) food combination. Mondelez is a coffee JV partner of JAB Holdings which is now a bit closer to Coca-Cola through the GMCR deal.