Covenants
The Preferred Investment Agreement provides that, prior to the closing of the Acquisition, the Company will (i) use reasonable best efforts to operate its business in the ordinary course or consistent with the public announcements made by the Company on or prior to the date of the Preferred Investment Agreement (without restricting the Company’s activities with respect to the Acquisition, the Preferred Investment, the JV Investment, the Spin-Off and the related transactions), and (ii) unless the KKR Investor and the Apollo Investor otherwise consent in writing (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed), not take any other action that, if taken following the Issue Date, would require the prior written consent of the Holders or result in an adjustment to the Conversion Price unless such adjustment is effected in connection with the issuance of the Convertible Preferred Stock on the Issue Date.
In addition, the Preferred Investment Agreement provides that, without the prior written consent of the KKR Investor and the Apollo Investor, the Company will not amend the merger protocol, dated August 24, 2025, pursuant to which the Company commenced a tender offer in connection with the Acquisition, in a manner that would be materially adverse to the KKR Investor or the Apollo Investor. The Preferred Investment Agreement also provides that, without the prior written consent of the KKR Investor and the Apollo Investor (so long as, with respect to the KKR Investor’s consent, the KKR Investor owns at least 50% of its initial Preferred Investment and, with respect to the Apollo Investor’s consent, the Apollo Investor owns at least 50% of its initial Preferred Investment), the Company will not permit the Spin-Off to be consummated if (A) the pro forma total net leverage of the Company, immediately following the consummation of the Spin-Off, is greater than 4.00 to 1.00, if an initial public offering of the Company’s refreshment beverage portfolio (the “Beverage Co. IPO”) with at least $2.0 billion in gross proceeds (the “Qualified IPO”) shall have been consummated on or prior to the consummation of the Spin-Off, or 4.25 to 1.00, if a Qualified IPO shall not have been consummated on or prior to the consummation of the Spin-Off, or (B) the corporate rating of either the Company or SpinCo, on a pro forma basis at the time of the Spin-Off, would be less than investment grade from either Moody’s or S&P. In addition, for so long as the Convertible Preferred Stock is outstanding, in the event of a ratings downgrade by either Moody’s or S&P, the Company will be subject to additional negative covenants that would restrict its operational flexibility.
Registration Rights Agreement
The Company has agreed to enter into a Registration Rights Agreement with the Preferred Investors, pursuant to which holders of Convertible Preferred Stock and Common Stock issuable upon conversion of Convertible Preferred Stock will have certain registration rights with respect to such shares of Convertible Preferred Stock and Common Stock pursuant to the terms of the Registration Rights Agreement, a form of which is attached as Exhibit C to the Preferred Investment Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”).
The foregoing description of the Convertible Preferred Stock, the Certificate of Designations, the Preferred Investment Agreement, the Registration Rights Agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby is only a summary and does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the agreements, copies of which are attached to this Current Report on Form 8-K as Exhibit 10.1, and incorporated herein by reference.
Pod Manufacturing Joint Venture Investment
On October 26, 2025, KDP and certain funds or accounts managed, advised or sub-advised by each of Apollo Capital Management L.P. and its affiliates, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. and its affiliates and Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. and its affiliates (together, the “JV Investors”) entered into a commitment letter (the “JV Commitment Letter”), under which the JV Investors have committed to making, subject to certain conditions, a strategic minority investment into a wholly-owned subsidiary of KDP (the “Pod Manufacturing JV” and such investment, the “JV Investment”).
Pursuant to the JV Commitment Letter, (i) at or prior to the closing of the JV Investment, KDP and its subsidiaries will contribute, either by contribution or merger of one or more of the subsidiaries of KDP, the assets used for the production, roasting and grinding of single-serve un-brewed beverage products (including K-Cup pods and K-Rounds) located in the United States and Canada (the “Coffee Production Assets”) as well as all of KDP’s related coffee assets (including sales and distribution) in Canada to the Pod Manufacturing JV, and (ii) at the closing of the JV Investment, the JV Investors will contribute, through a holding company (the “JV Investor Partner”) $4 billion in cash in exchange for a 49% interest in the Pod Manufacturing JV. The remaining 51% ownership interest will remain under the ownership of KDP and its affiliates. Further, the JV Commitment Letter names each of Apollo Global Securities, LLC and KKR Capital Markets LLC as a “Joint Lead Arranger” with respect to certain of the transactions.