SodaStream Shares Soar After $3.2 Billion Pepsi Deal
*By Carlo Versano*
The sparkling water industry is a literal bubble market. But will it become a figurative one, too?
Pepsi execs just made a big bet that the thirst for healthier drinks will last: the company announced Monday it's buying Israel-based SodaStream for $3.2 billion in the latest efforts to guarantee continued relevance as younger customers [spurn](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/13/pepsico-earnings-q4-2017.html) soda and junk food. But the purchase is more than a nod to calorie-conscious drinkers, said Saabira Chaudhuri, the Wall Street Journal reporter who broke the story of the merger.
"This lets Pepsi get ahead of this potential backlash against single-service plastic," she said Monday in an interview on Cheddar.
Pepsi is hedging against its core product line and yielding to consumers' mounting concerns about plastic waste. It's a major issue in Western Europe, where SodaStream does the bulk of its sales, Chaudhuri said.
SodaStream has risen in popularity over the last several years but actually a long history that dates back to 1903. After a private-equity reorganization, the company went public in 2010, positioning itself as a DIY soda maker, but saw an opportunity in the sparkling water market and rebranded itself as health-conscious and eco-friendly alternative to soda ー a right place, right time approach that paid off.
An acquisition by one of the largest consumer brands in the world will allow SodaStream to expand globally and accelerate its research and development, Chaudhuri said.
"To have a company with the heft of Pepsi get behind you ー that's an expansion that they wouldn't be able to do on their own anytime soon."
Chaudhuri also said the deal reminds her of Unilever's [surprise purchase](http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/unilever-buys-dollar-shave-club-1-billion/305048/) of Dollar Shave Club in 2016 for $1 billion in cash. Both moves speak to a corporate realization that consumers' habits are changing. In the case of Unilever, the company bought into the subscription model trend. With Pepsi, it's about the shift to healthier, natural food and drink.
In both instances, it's about paying for, "small things that they know are working and then try to scale them," Chaudhuri said.
Pepsi already made a play for a piece of the sparkling water market earlier this year with the launch of its Bubly line [to tap into](https://www.businessinsider.com/pepsis-new-sparkling-water-line-aims-to-take-on-la-croix-fans-2018-2) rival La Croix's cult following. But SodaStream, with its counter top product, flavorings, and refillable CO2 cartridges, is something new.
"This is a completely different model for them," Chaudhuri said.
For full interview, [click here] (https://cheddar.com/videos/pepsi-adds-sodastream-to-healthy-drinks-lineup).
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
