PepsiCo Puts Fizz Into Healthy Drinks With $3.2 Billion SodaStream Deal

FILE PHOTO: Employees pack boxes of the SodaStream product at the factory in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim January 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

JERUSALEM/LONDON—PepsiCo will buy carbonated drink-machine maker SodaStream for $3.2 billion as it battles Coca-Cola for an edge in the health-conscious beverage market.

Founded in Britain in 1903, SodaStream was a coveted device in British kitchens in the 1970s and 80s, allowing people to create fizzy drinks by adding flavored syrups to carbonated tap water, but its popularity faded as bottled sodas became cheaper.