Beverage giant Coca-Cola Co. plans to buy a minority stake in energy drink maker Monster Beverage Corp. to strengthen its foothoold in that growing market segment, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Atlanta-based Coke will reportedly pay $2.15 billion in cash for a 16.7% stake and two board seats in Monster. The deal also includes swapping of brands with Coke and turning over its energy drinks, such NOS, Full Throttle, and Burn to Monster, while getting control of the latter's non-energy products, such as Hansen's Natural Sodas and Hubert's Lemonade.

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The LA Times quoted industry analyst John Sicher, editor of Beverage Digest, saying it was "a terrific deal for both companies."

"The carbonated soft drink business in the U.S. has been in decline for nine years - energy drinks are one of the few good growth areas," he said.

Coke will be able to capitalize on Monster's expertise in the energy drink industry, which it has struggled in along with rival Pepsi Co. Monster, meanwhile, gets to access Coke's sprawling bottling network, the report said.

Despite its dominance of the soft drink industry, Coke is a lightweight in energy drinks, with just 6% market share compared to Monster's 28.7%. Privately held Red Bull leads the industry, with almost a 33% share according research group IBISWorld.

The companies said in a statement that the agreement will "accelerate growth for both companies in the fast-growing, global energy drink category. The deal is expected to be completed later this year or early next year.

The report added that energy drinks are a growing segment of the US beverage industry, with $6.8 billion spent annually by American consumers for these boosters, according to an April report from IBISWorld. It grew by an average of 10.8% for the past five years and is expected to continue expanding 9.7% annually through 2019.

Analysts believe there is room for growth for energy drinks with only 5% of American adults regularly consuming these products. New products may also be introduced to further attract consumers.

TagsCoke, Monster, Energy drinks, soft drinks