Coca-Cola again is target of rumors that 3G Capital will buy it
Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) again is in rumors that the trio Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira are talking about buying the world’s largest soft drinks business, O Globo reported Sunday without giving a source.
If confirmed, Coca-Cola would become the fourth prestigious US brand acquired by the trio through their 3G Capital, the Rio de Janeiro-based Portuguese-language newspaper reported in the widely read column of Ancelmo Gois.
The brands already acquired by the Brazilian investors are Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), Burger King Worldwide (NYSE: BKW) and Heinz, O Globo reported.
The question of what 3G would buy next with the backing of Warren Buffett was raised by The Wall Street Journal in a column this past 3 September. Buffett told shareholders earlier this year he is still seeking large acquisitions and continues to love 3G, the firm he teamed up with to buy Heinz in 2013, according to the WSJ report in September.
Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev controls Cia. de Bebidas das Americas (Bovespa: AMBV3), a brewer known as AmBev that controls about two-third’s of Brazil’s beer market.
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA), which is controlled by Buffett, teamed with 3G in 2013 to buy Heinz, the large catsup maker, as reported.
The item in O Globo Sunday did not mention if 3G might team with Buffett to make a bid for Coke.
Berkshire Hathaway was the largest institutional shareholder with 400 million shares in Coca-Cola for a 9.1% stake as of this past 30 September, according to a tabulation published by Yahoo Finance. The shares held by Berkshire were worth USD 17.1bn on 30 September, according to the report.
Source O Globo, Wall Street Journal, yahoo.finance