In 1995, Quaker acquired Snapple, paying $1.7 billion. However, Quaker sold this expensive acquisition in 1997 for $300 billion. Cadbury Schweppes acquired the company in 2000, and, in so doing, faced the identifical problem in distribution that the Quaker management was never able to negotiate successfully. The marketing strategies of both companies are analyzed and suggestions are offered regarding a more efficient distribution system. This four page paper has ten sources in the bibliography.
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best of all worlds for Quaker Oats. It had acquired Gatorade(r) more than a decade earlier, building it into the undisputed leader among sports drinks with an 87 percent
market share. As the fortunes of Coca-Cola and Pepsi continued to decline as consumers maintained their move away from dark colas, the opportunity for Quaker to move into the
industrys third position (Lyons, 1994) beckoned and appeared to hold few obstacles. Quaker paid $1.7 billion for Snapple(r) in 1995; it sold it
to Triarc in 1997 for $300 million (Prince, 1997). Cadbury Schweppes took on that much sought-after number three position with its purchase of Triarc in 2000. The purpose
here is to determine where Quaker failed. I. Quaker Oats Case Facts Quaker arranged for a $2.4 billion loan in order to
pay $1.7 billion for Snapple. It needed to arrange for divestment of a European pet food company and a Mexican chocolate company as part of the loan agreement with
the financiers led by Charlotte, North Carolinas NationsBank (now BankAmerica), but those constructing the loan package were as certain of success of the acquisition as Quakers management. Even Wall
Street approved: Steven Galbraith, a food and beverage analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., commented at the time, "This merger is a no-brainer ... It is a sound
corporate cash flow business that will continue to be so" (Dunaief, 1994; p. 1). Snapple was not performing well at the time, but
its brand was strong. Quaker Oats president Don Uzzi planned to grow Snapple from its then-current "$700 million to a $1.4 billion company by at least the year 2000"
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