Molson Coors Beverage Company is again expanding outside beer with a deal to buy Atomic Brands, the maker of Monaco Cocktails RTDs.
The value of the transaction, announced today (23 March), was undisclosed.
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In a statement, the Coors Light brewer said the deal “advances” its “ambition to build a strong portfolio of scaled brands across beer and beyond beer”.
Other brands in Atomic’s portfolio, such as Kentucky Coffee RTDs, will remain owned by the company’s founders, Molson Coors confirmed separately.
It anticipates the deal will be completed “in the coming weeks”.
Molson Coors president and CEO Rahul Goyal said: “This brand was developed from the ground up with dedication and a fanbase fostered through real, in-person experiences.
“We believe it has the scale, the consumer loyalty and the runway for growth that we’ve been looking for – but it’s more than that. Monaco is built different. Very few brands blend quality, value and fun quite like Monaco does, and all of us at Molson Coors are excited to build on the momentum by introducing the brand to even more consumers.”
Launched in 2012, Monaco Cocktails’ products are sold in more than 70,000 retail stores in the US.
Its canned cocktails includes vodka-based variants Citrus Rush and Black Raspberry and Tequila-based options such as Lime Crush. The brand also makes a line of canned hard lemonades.
Molson Coors said the deal is anticipated “to further” its Horizon 2030 strategy, which it outlined in at the CAGNY investment conference in February.
Last month, Goyal described Horizon 2030 as “a blueprint of how we get our business back to growth”.
Under the strategy, Molson Coors wants to grow sales and profit from a group of six brands – Carling in the UK, Coors Banquet, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Molson and Ožujsko in Croatia. On another pair of “value brands” – Keystone Light and Miller High Life – the company will “drive profit”.
Molson Coors also wants to “accelerate” what it calls “above premium” beer, which includes the Blue Moon and Madri brands, as well as Peroni in the US for which it has a local licence.
Aside from the latest deal for Atomic Brands, other recent moves outside of beer include its investment last year in UK mixers business Fevertree.
In today’s statement on the deal for Atomic, the Staropramen brewer said it “sees significant opportunity to further scale Monaco, including through increased marketing support and expansion through chain retailers”.
Most of the brand’s distribution already “overlaps” with Molson Coors’ US distributor network, it said.
Don Deubler, the founder and CEO of Atomic Brands, added: “This next chapter will harness their unmatched distribution reach, operational expertise, and passion for iconic consumer brands to bring Monaco’s high-octane fun to even more fans nationwide.”
Atomic Brands does not own any production facilities, Molson Coors said. It did not confirm whether it plans to retain any production agreements.
