Monarch Acquires All Sport
In order to allay U.S. Federal Trade Commission concerns over competition in the sports beverage business, Purchase, N.Y.-based Pepsico Inc. sold its All Sport brand to Atlanta-based The Monarch Company Inc.
The move was made necessary by Pepsi acquisition last week of Chicago, Ill.-based Quaker Oats and the crown jewel Gatorade beverage brand.
Monarch, which currently owns several other beverage brands including Dad's Root Beer, Moxie, Dr. Wells and Rush Energy, is currently working with the PepsiCo team to insure a smooth transition of concentrate supply, billings, national accounts and fountain availability.
The FTC had expressed concern that Gatorade, which currently has no direct store delivery system in place, would only increase its dominance of the market through Pepsico's distribution system.
Other beverage industry insiders have been apprehensive of the merger, arguing that Pepsi, which also owns Frito-Lay, could potentially leverage its broad product line to demand better shelf space and other marketing benefits from convenience store retailers to the detriment of smaller competitors such as Monarch.
Although All Sport controls only 5 percent of the isotonics market -- versus Gatorade's 80 percent and Powerade's 15 percent -- Monarch is planning an aggressive ad campaign to revitalize the brand, according to a recent release.
The move was made necessary by Pepsi acquisition last week of Chicago, Ill.-based Quaker Oats and the crown jewel Gatorade beverage brand.
Monarch, which currently owns several other beverage brands including Dad's Root Beer, Moxie, Dr. Wells and Rush Energy, is currently working with the PepsiCo team to insure a smooth transition of concentrate supply, billings, national accounts and fountain availability.
The FTC had expressed concern that Gatorade, which currently has no direct store delivery system in place, would only increase its dominance of the market through Pepsico's distribution system.
Other beverage industry insiders have been apprehensive of the merger, arguing that Pepsi, which also owns Frito-Lay, could potentially leverage its broad product line to demand better shelf space and other marketing benefits from convenience store retailers to the detriment of smaller competitors such as Monarch.
Although All Sport controls only 5 percent of the isotonics market -- versus Gatorade's 80 percent and Powerade's 15 percent -- Monarch is planning an aggressive ad campaign to revitalize the brand, according to a recent release.