Coca-Cola ups Innocent stake
American drinks giant Coca-Cola has taken majority ownership of Innocent, the British smoothie maker, increasing its stake to 58 per cent. The move gives the US company more exposure to the fast-growing health beverages market in the UK and comes a year after Coca-Cola paid £30m for an 18 per cent stake in Fresh Trading, Innocent’s parent, which valued the London-based firm at between £150m and £300m. Accounts filed at Companies House show Innocent’s holding company made a loss of £7.5m on sales of £105m in 2008, down from a profit of £6.2m on revenues of £113.2m a year earlier.