Bruskjempen PepsiCo kjøper israelske SodaStream for 3,2 milliarder dollar. Kjøpet er en del av Pepsis strategi for å møte fallet i salget av sukkerholdig brus.
SodaStream lager maskiner som gjør at folk kan tilsette kullsyre til sine egne drikker hjemme, og brukes av mange til å lage sprudlevann av vannet fra springen.
Kjøpesummen tilsvarer 27 milliarder kroner etter dagens kurs.
Både PepsiCo og erkerivalen Coca-Cola har den senere tiden skaffet seg flere bein å stå på enn sine velkjente hovedprodukter. Brussalget rammes av sukkerskatt og andre avgifter i stadig flere land, som ledd i innsatsen mot overvekt.
Siden SodaStream bruker gjenbruksflasker, ses også kjøpet som et salgsargument rettet mot kunder som er bekymret for forsøpling fra brusbokser og plastflasker.
PepsiCos avtroppende sjef Indra Nooyi sier kjøpet av det Tel Aviv-baserte selskapet er i tråd med en satsing på bærekraft og sunnere produkter.
SodaStreams sjef Daniel Birnbaum sier avtalen vil åpne nye markeder for gjennom PepsiCos omfattende nettverk, og legger til at selskapet fortsatt skal være basert i Israel.
United with Israel skriver:
SodaStream CEO: $3 Billion Sale to Pepsi a Victory over Anti-Israel Boycotters.
SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum, who sealed a $3.2 billion agreement with beverage giant PepsiCo on Monday, hailed the deal as a victory over the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which advocates for the destruction of the Jewish State, The Times of Israel reported.
SodaStream had become a target of the boycotts campaign over the
location of its factory in Judea, before moving to a location inside the
Green Line several years ago. In an interview with Channel 10
news hours after the deal was signed, Birnbaum said, “I think they have
learned not to meddle with us. Look at what happened to SodaStream that
they targeted, and what has happened to them.”
In October 2014, SodaStream announced it would close its factory in
Maale Adumim due to financial considerations. At the time, the company
accused the boycotts movement of anti-Semitic motives and hurting the
interests of the Palestinian workers they claim to protect. Palestinian
workers at the factory criticized the boycotts movement for destroying their jobs and livelihood of their families.
The boycotts movement asserted that SodaStream discriminated against Palestinian workers and paid them less than their Israeli counterparts. Employees at the factory, however, said wages for Palestinians and Israeli workers were commensurate, and that Palestinian workers had been given pay and benefits far higher than anything else they could find in the Palestinian Authority.
The boycotts movement asserted that SodaStream discriminated against Palestinian workers and paid them less than their Israeli counterparts. Employees at the factory, however, said wages for Palestinians and Israeli workers were commensurate, and that Palestinian workers had been given pay and benefits far higher than anything else they could find in the Palestinian Authority.