Canned water maker Liquid Death has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to lead a potential IPO, which could come as soon as spring 2024, The Information reported yesterday. 

• According to The Information, the hiring of Goldman Sachs resulted from an IPO “bake-off,” in which banks “vie for IPO business by pitching companies on how they would sell their stock to Wall Street investors.”
• Liquid Death has been talking about the possibility of going public since October, when it announced a $700 million valuation alongside a $70 million Series D funding round.
• In a Medium post, board member Peter Pham said the company was on pace to double its projected 2022 revenue of over $130 million in 2023.
• As of last fall Liquid Death had 94% national distribution coverage via DSD and broadline with the ability to service 346,000 doors, according to an internal deck. In October, Pham wrote that the brand was in 60,000 accounts nationwide at the time – suggesting plenty of runway ahead.
• Liquid Death must have a lot of confidence in its business to be thinking about going public. After what felt like a whirlwind of CPG IPOs in 2021, including Oatly, Vita Coco and Zevia – not to mention the SPAC fad – the drive for brands to go public has slowed significantly over the past year as the market has cooled and some companies have struggled to maintain their out-the-gate stock value. However, there’s been some exceptions still jumping into the fray in recent months. 

The Coca-Cola Company announced yesterday that it has enlisted eight of its bottling partners in a new $137.7 million venture fund focused on improving sustainability measures along the beverage company’s supply chain.

• The fund will be managed by Greycroft, a seed-to-growth capital firm, and will focus on five major impact areas: packaging, heating and cooling, facility decarbonization, distribution and supply chain.
• Each of the eight bottlers committed around $15 million and are spread out geographically representing about half of Coke’s global system volume.
• The fund is expected to invest in companies at the point of commercialization and “offers an opportunity to pioneer innovative solutions and help scale them quickly within the Coca-Cola system,” Coke president and CFO John Murphy said in a statement.

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Everything is looking pink these days at beverage brand Swoon. The zero-sugar drink maker went all in on landing a partnership with Mattel for the upcoming Barbie movie and it seems to be working. 

• In May, Swoon launched a co-branded Barbie Pink Lemonade in anticipation of the movie’s July 21 release. In order to meet increased demand, the drink will now go into nationwide distribution through August. 
• Working with open data retail platform Crisp, Swoon said it saw a 35% increase in sales velocity at “a leading supermarket chain,” but didn’t specify which one.
• No word on whether there will be an Oppenheimer flavor, but we think it would be a missed opportunity to let Barbenheimer pass them by. That’s just our opinion though. Atomic Spiced Tea, anyone? 

• Comedian Josh Gondelman dives deeper on his love for Polar Seltzer and gives a creative's perspective on why he thinks the brand resonates.
• A Florida court cleared the path for Monster's proposed acquisition of Bang.
• Bossa Nova's CEO is concerned the brand is growing faster than it can maintain.

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