eholder David Winters, who raised a ruckus over the company’s incentive pay plan in April, is getting back in the fray, this time accusing Warren Buffett of plotting to take the soft-drink maker private.The money manager said, in a letter to Coca-Cola’s board, that he’s worried that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway may be planning a 'sweetheart' deal, enriching him and his friends in management. Buffett, the beverage company’s largest shareholder, responded on CNBC by saying that there was no chance of that happening. Coca-Cola has a market value of almost $180 billion.
Winters based his allegations on media reports, which suggest that Buffett is considering a buyout of Coca-Cola with private equity firm 3G Capital, using their takeover of H.J. Heinz as a model, according to the letter. That would potentially lead to a sale with no competing offers, he said. “We are concerned that a similar type of sweetheart/insider deal for Coca-Cola could, in our opinion, significantly undervalue Coca-Cola and irreparably harm Coca-Cola shareholders,” said Winters, chief executive officer of Wintergreen Advisers LLC.
Ben Deutsch, a spokesman for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, declined to comment to Bloomberg yesterday.
