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Triarc sets Snapple IPO
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June 22, 2000: 3:19 p.m. ET
Soft drink maker to take Snapple public in 3Q, separate food from drinks
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Triarc Cos. Inc. disclosed plans Thursday to take its Snapple drinks unit public in an initial public offering that will separate beverages from its other lines of business.
Triarc's board approved plans to launch the beverage line -- which includes Snapple, Mistic, Stewarts, Royal Crown, Diet Rite and Nehi -- into a new company, Snapple Beverage Group Inc. Triarc Beverage Group CEO Michael Weinstein will head the company, which will be based in White Plains, N.Y. Triarc CEO Nelson Peltz will serve as chairman.
New York-based Triarc plans to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission within the next few days and expects to complete the IPO by the third quarter of this year. Triarc did not specify the number of shares or the amount it will attempt to raise by the offering.
Snapple plans to use proceeds to repay debt under an existing credit facility.
In afternoon trading Thursday, Triarc shares were up 3/16 to 20-3/8.
Arby's separate from Snapple
Triarc, which franchises more than 3,200 Arby's fast-food restaurants as well as T.J. Cinnamons, bought Snapple in 1997 from Quaker Oats Co. and helped the slumping company rebound by introducing new product combinations and an innovative advertising campaign that spoofs attempts to merge different types of fruits.
 For the three months ended April 2, Triarc reported net income of $2.7 million on revenue of $190 million compared with a net loss of $13.3 million on revenue of $178.2 million for the year-earlier period.
"Snapple has produced doubled-digit growth going on several quarters now," said analyst Ann Gurkin, of Davenport & Co.
Snapple's primary competition comes from the alternative drinks offered by Coca-Cola Co. (KO: Research, Estimates) and PepsiCo Inc. (PEP: Research, Estimates), which include Fruitopia, Tropicana products and Aquafina bottled water.
Analyst Caroline Levy of UBS Warburg said a sale would make it easier for people to follow the company.
"They want to make Snapple a pure-play beverage business," she said. "Snapple is doing really well, it has regained market share and the volume is doing well." 
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Triarc Co.
Snapple
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