(Bloomberg) -- Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, adapting to a shift by consumers to drinking more at home, is working with Keurig Green Mountain Inc. to create an alcoholic-drink maker.
The two companies have entered a joint venture to develop the device, according to a statement Friday. The system will be based on technology from Keurig's cold-beverage system, which was discontinued in June after slow sales.
Keurig, which was acquired for about $13.9 billion by JAB Holding Co. last year, has been seeking ways to diversify away from its signature product: coffee brewers. Though the Keurig Kold was a flop, it was focused on making sodas, iced teas and other nonalcoholic beverages. Revamping it for booze could increase the appeal of the device, which took six years to develop.
Working with AB InBev would let company combine “our capabilities and technologies to deliver innovation,” Keurig Chief Executive Officer Bob Gamgort said in the statement.
Coca-Cola Co., which once owned 17 percent of Keurig, had backed the Keurig Kold. But the cola giant sold its stake when JAB acquired the brewer maker.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Kaplan in New York at jkaplan84@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Lisa Wolfson
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