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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Innocent Drinks Sell Minority Stake to Coca-Cola Co

The three founders of Innocent Drinks, the famous smoothie manufacturer, have finally decided to take Coca-Cola's offer and sell to them a minority stake ranging between 10% and 20% for a sum of around £30 million. According to Innocent's press release, this money will be used to fuel it's European expansion. http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/press/pressreleases/view.cfm?token=378b791944ef45c986aca6530f72d5f8&presssectionid=7&id=8

This move has produced a lot of concerns from loyal Innocent consumers who fear that this move will harm Innocent's promise of only making natural products using fresh ingredients and move towards a more corporate culture thus losing some of the values which have characterised company over the past ten years. Some of the concerns expressed by consumers can be seem here:-



So to sum it all up Innocent is now facing a very challenging moment. After having become one of the most successful start ups and one of the lastest companies that sold a stake to a corporate giant, Innocent's owners have to prove it's customer base and general public that they can still attain to the values which made them what they are. Only the future will be able to tell us whether Innocent's move to sell a stake to Coca-Cola was the right move to help the company grow stronger in the European market.

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