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. Includes a detailed history of the Coca-Cola Company.