The Coca-Cola Company: Accounting for Investments in Bottlers

In 2001, accounting regulators, especially those in the U.S., began to reconsider the rules of consolidation with a move toward a requirement based on “control,” with much less consideration of the size of the equity stake. The fundamental accounting and reporting issue for the Coca-Cola Company was whether the investment in and operation of anchor bottlers such as Coca-Cola Enterprises should be reported as a consolidated subsidiary or as an investment and, if the latter, whether that investment should be accounted for using the equity method of accounting, at fair value, or at cost. The case includes a detailed history of the Coca-Cola Company.