PLANO, TEXAS — The Dr Pepper Snapple Group has taken an 11.7% stake in BA Sports Nutrition L.L.C., the maker of the BodyArmor branded sports drink. The investment is worth approximately $20 million, according to Dr Pepper Snapple.
“We’ve been pleased with BodyArmor’s growth over the past two years and believe it has strong potential as a premium sports drink,” said Rodger Collins, DPS president of packaged beverages. “It’s already a great part of our allied brand portfolio, it has a management team with the experience and passion to succeed, and we’re looking forward to contributing to that growth and success over the long term.”
The BodyArmor SuperDrink was introduced in 2012. Some ingredients in the product’s formulation are coconut water, vitamins and cane sugar. It may be perceived by consumers as clean label since it has no artificial flavors and is available in seven flavors.
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| Mike Repole, co-founder and chairman of BodyArmor. |
“We are very excited about the investment by Dr Pepper Snapple Group,” said Mike Repole, co-founder and chairman of BodyArmor. “Through our partnership with D.P.S., we are continuing to gain distribution throughout the United States, and we are on our way to becoming a national brand. BodyArmor has tremendous momentum, and the strength of the D.P.S. organization and its system will continue to fuel our amazing growth for years to come.”
Dr Pepper Snapple has been a distributor of the BodyArmor brands since 2013. The investment also marks the second time the beverage manufacturer has worked with Mr. Repole. Prior to launching BodyArmor he was a co-founder of vitaminwater, which was a part of Dr Pepper Snapple’s legacy bottling and distribution system. Vitaminwater and several related brands were later sold to the Coca-Cola Co. in 2007 by its parent company Energy Brands, Inc., for approximately $4.1 billion.
