Coke May Buy Nantucket Nectars

ATLANTA--According to an article in Reuters, it is rumored that the Coca Cola Co. is interested in acquiring Nantucket Nectars (www.juiceguys.com), jointly owned by Nantucket Allserve Inc. and Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. The soda conglomerate's potential move would help Coke better compete with PepsiCo in the non-carbonated beverage sector (where Pepsi has a healthy share of the sports and functional beverage market with Gatorade and SoBe, respectively). The Nantucket, Mass.-based all-natural juice company would be a natural follow-up to Coke's previous acquisition of Mad River Traders Inc., a tea, juice and soft drink company. Financial analysts told Reuters that this move would send a positive message to consumers but would not make any substantial impact on the company.