Coke invests in SodaStream competitor; will Pepsi buy SODA?

From Business Week:

Coca-Cola (KO) announced on Wednesday that it’s buying a 10 percent stake in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) for $1.25 billion. It’s not a move to get into the coffee business but rather an aggressive push to compete directly with SodaStream (SODA), which sells do-it-yourself carbonation machines as well as the flavor syrups that go with them. Coke will be the first company to feature its brands in Green Mountain’s new Keurig Cold machines, set to debut in 2015.

Keurig Cold will make soda and noncarbonated drinks like juices and teas using pods similar to those in Green Mountain’s Keurig coffee brewers. That means consumers could soon make their own Hi-C or Fuze, not just home-bubbled Diet Coke or Sprite. Compatibility with familiar and valued soft drink brands is clearly going to be the selling point, just as it is with the big coffee brands such as Starbucks (SBUX) and Dunkin’ Donuts (DNKN) available as K-Cup pods.

Israel's Calcalist reports that in the wake of the SodaStream SuperBowl ad, it appears that the soft drink giants are getting very nervous. There were rumors of talks between SodaStream and Pepsi six months ago, and now people are talking about both Pepsi and Dr. Pepper as potential buyers or investors in SodaStream.

The day after the Super Bowl, SodaStream stock went down 2 points, causing much cheering from the Israel haters who were certain that their whining caused the drop.

If the SodaStream ad had bombed as the haters pretended, then Coke wouldn't have to drop one and a quarter billion to get into that market, would it?

Today, SODA is up 4 points, an 11% gain, on the rumors of a new partner for SodaStream.

Sorry, haters.

(h/t Ori)