SODASTREAM acquired by PEPSICO

PepsiCo's August 2018 agreement to buy SodaStream International, the maker of at-home sparkling water machines, valued the company at . Both boards approved the deal, funded from PepsiCo's cash on hand, and it closed on 5 December 2018 after a shareholder vote and regulatory clearance, with Goldman Sachs advising the acquirer. SodaStream's own history is a story of reinvention: founded in the UK in 1903, bought by Soda-Club in 1998, taken under the majority control of private equity fund Fortissimo Capital in 2007 and listed on Nasdaq in 2010. Its machines turn tap water into sparkling water, sold alongside flavoured syrups through more than 80,000 retail stores in 45 countries; in the second quarter of 2018 the company reported revenue of , up 31% on growth in Germany, France and Canada, and an 82% jump in net profit. PepsiCo framed the purchase as part of its Beyond the Bottle strategy and its push into healthier drinks, a path Coca-Cola and Keurig Green Mountain had abandoned when they shelved a similar home soda machine venture in 2016. Chief executive Ramon Laguarta, who succeeded Indra Nooyi in October 2018, called SodaStream highly complementary and incremental, pointing to PepsiCo's distribution reach as a springboard for expansion. The target had earlier faced boycott calls over a West Bank plant that it closed and relocated to southern Israel.