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22nd February 2007

Coke Acquisitions: Mad River vs FUZE?!?!?

posted in Uncategorized |
Posted by John Craven, Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 5:09 pm

As Coke gets ready to bring FUZE into the picture, there’s been some talk – at least among those who cover the industry — about whether or not Coke could botch this the way they botched the Mad River acquisition.

I am honestly somewhat surprised that this comparison is even considered given that:

a) FUZE’s sale price (supposedly around $200 million) is much greater than Mad River’s was (~$7 million). Spending $7 million to knock off a potential competitor is easy. Spending $200 million is a much bigger hit, and would create more of a pyrrhic victory, even if the destruction of Fuze is Coke’s real intent.
b) Coke immediately scrapped Mad’s CSD’s, which were really its better product line. This reinforces the thought that Coke was just out for blood. And even if they weren’t, and they just had too much arrogant faith in their own flagship CSD’s, there’s this:
c) FUZE has a much stronger portfolio and is positioned in growth categories… it doesn’t really have any CSD’s, let alone CSD’s in glass bottles, for Coke to kill off.

Your thoughts?

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There are currently 3 responses to “Coke Acquisitions: Mad River vs FUZE?!?!?”

Why not let us know what you think by adding your own comment! Your opinion is as valid as anyone elses, so come on... let us know what you think.

  1. 1 On February 28th, 2007, Anonymous said:

    I work for a distributor that sells Fuze in Michigan. Coke will screw it up. Coke and Pepsi throw money around because they can’t come up with any good products of there own. They realize new age beverages are what people are buying.

  2. 2 On February 28th, 2007, Anonymous said:

    It is too bad where the beverage industry is going (i.e. in the same path as US banks, malt bevs, etc). The big fish are swallowing up the small ones, leaving very little room for entrepreneurship. The only wqay to survive is to have a very successful LOCAL brand that red and blue do not care about. I can think of 2 brands at the current time that are surviving this epidemic. Glaceau and Hansen’s (which is under SEC scrutiny for illegal activity).

  3. 3 On March 30th, 2007, Anonymous said:

    I agree it is great for Mr. Lance Collins. However, it is not so great for competition, FUZE employees (and their families) that will soon be looking for work, FUZE supply chain that will now be incorporated into Coke’s system. Another brand bites the dust being eaten up by red/blue. There is a bigger picture here outside of how much 1 person pocketed. But cheers to Lance.

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