Coca-Cola buys minority stake in Innocent

by Joe Thomas, marketingmagazine.co.uk 06-Apr-09, 03:45

LONDON - Innocent has confirmed that drinks giant Coca-Cola has invested £30m in the company so that the smoothies brand can expand across Europe.

The minority stake is believed to be worth in the region of 10-20%

Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent said that the investment would allow the brand to reach more people in more places. ‘They [Coca-Cola] have been in business for over 120 years, so there will be things we can learn from them. And in some small ways, we may be able to influence their thinking too,' he added.

Innocent becomes the latest ethical business to have sold a stake in their company to a bigger company. Ethical cosmetics company Body Shop was taken over by French giant L'Oreal in 2006.