NEW YORK — Coca-Cola’s investment has quickly driven bearish traders away from Keurig Green Mountain. It will take a lot longer to see if the company gulps down the rest of the coffee maker.Coca-Cola bought 10% of Keurig in February and said the companies are working together to make a system for producing single-serve cold drinks. The backing of Coke — the $168bn beverage maker that has been around for more than 100 years — undermines bets that have been made by short sellers such as David Einhorn. Since Coca-Cola took its stake, Keurig has risen 34% as short interest dropped.While the $18bn company is often pegged as a takeover target for soft drink makers as a way to reboot their slowing growth, it is too early to determine whether this new product will be successful enough to draw an offer from Coca-Cola, Sanford C Bernstein & Company said.Coke has a history of taking equity stakes in firms that it acquires years later, as was the case with Zico coconut water and Honest Tea.If C...
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