Snapple maker Keurig Dr Pepper to switch to Nasdaq

(Reuters) – Keurig Dr Pepper Inc said on Tuesday it would transfer its stock market listing to the Nasdaq later this month, to get access to a more diverse set of investors. The company will join tech giants and other consumer companies, including PepsiCo Inc which switched exchanges in 2017.

Separately, JAB Holding Co, Keurig’s majority owner, will redistribute about 76 million shares, or 5.4%, in the coffee and beverage company to its minority partners, investment banker Byron Trott’s BDT Capital Partners and Dallas-based Quadrant Capital Advisors.

Keurig’s Chief Executive Officer Bob Gamgort said JAB’s move would push the beverage maker to “becoming a widely-held company.”

Family-owned JAB Holding combined its Keurig coffee business and the publicly-traded soft drinks company to create Keurig Dr Pepper, which helped the conglomerate expand into the soft-drinks business.

Following the redistribution, JAB, which currently owns about a half of Keurig’s public float through Maple Holdings BV, will own 44% of Keurig.

Mondelez International Inc will continue to own 12% and the public float will increase to 44%, including shares held directly by the minority partners, the Dr Pepper soda maker said.

Keurig, which currently trades on NYSE, has a market capitalization of about $42 billion according to IBES data from Refinitiv. It will retain the “KDP” ticker with trading on the Nasdaq expected to begin on September 21.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)