Red Bull is proof: the world is still obsessed with energy drinks
Beverage giant Keurig Dr Pepper is spending $1 billion to buy energy-drink upstart Ghost, as Red Bull rivals try to catch up.
On Thursday, Keurig Dr Pepper — one of the world’s leading beverage businesses, with a portfolio of more than 125 brands including 7UP and Folgers Coffee — announced it was set to acquire 8-year-old energy-drink-maker Ghost in a deal worth more than $1 billion. With so many energy-drink varieties on the market, Ghost has set itself apart with sugar-free, caffeinated offerings that come in candy-inspired flavors like Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish.
Marking Keurig’s biggest deal since buying Dr Pepper Snapple Group in 2018, the company will put down an initial investment of ~$990 million for a 60% ownership stake, before acquiring the other 40% in 2028. While only a small dent in Keurig’s huge ~$50 billion market value, the move positions the company’s US refreshment-beverages segment to capitalize on the global demand for energy drinks — which has soared over the past two decades and grew a further ~10% in 2023, per Nielsen estimates.
Gives you wings (and competitors)
Top global brand Red Bull sold ~12 billion cans worldwide last year, notching sales of €10.6 billion (~$11.4 billion). However, success breeds competition, and Red Bull now has a crowd of rivals snapping at its heels. Data from research firm Mintel shows that the number of energy drinks on the market has increased by 21% in the last three years, and while Red Bull’s biggest competitor by some way is Monster, burgeoning brands like newcomer Prime have also made a dent: the YouTube-hyped drink sold $1.2 billion worth of its product last year.
Still, with an F1 team, a music festival, a host of marketing stunts, and even a soapbox race in its roster, Red Bull has firmly kept its crown in the energy-drinks space as a private, independent company by expanding its reach far beyond convenience-store shelves… leaving the rest of the sector to play a game of caffeine-opoly.
Prior to the Ghost deal, Keurig had bought a stake in Nutrabolt, owner of C4 Energy, in 2022. That same year, PepsiCo paid $550 million for an 8.5% stake in wellness-oriented energy drink Celsius, only two years after acquiring Rockstar Energy for a massive $3.85 billion. And, despite having made more than $7 billion in sales last year, it seems Monster — itself backed by Coca-Cola and the sponsor of several major sporting events — is also trying to froth up to Red Bull’s level through some strategic investments, buying Bang Energy last year for $362 million.
