IS HOMEMADE PEPSI OK?

PepsiCo Buys SodaStream in $3.2 Billion Deal

Latest attempt to catch up with Coca-Cola.

PepsiCo has agreed to buy seltzer maker SodaStream in a $3.2 billion deal. The Israeli company makes a machine and refillable gas cylinders that let users make their own carbonated drinks at home. It will give Pepsi a new way of reaching customers in their homes when its drinks are declining in popularity. PepsiCo will buy SodaStream for $144 per share in cash, nearly 11 percent higher than the Friday closing price of SodaStream’s U.S.-listed stock. Incoming PepsiCo President Ramon Laguarta, who will succeed Indra Nooyi on Oct. 3, said SodaStream was “highly complementary and incremental” to Pepsi’s business. “PepsiCo is finding new ways to reach consumers beyond the bottle,” he added. If regulators approve the deal, it should be finalized by January 2019, subject to a vote by SodaStream shareholders.