Quaker Chief Defends Snapple Purchase

Quaker Oats Chairman William D. Smithburg, sipping from a bottle of Snapple, defended the company’s $1.7 billion purchase of the beverage brand Wednesday at a crowded shareholder meeting.

Smithburg acknowledged the company mishandled distribution and marketing of Snapple following the acquisition 11 months ago. But he said Snapple would be profitable again, citing Quaker’s success with its Gatorade sports drink.

“My job is to build value for shareholders. My financial situation is closely aligned with all you shareholders,” Smithburg, who owns 2 million shares, told the estimated 1,700 at the meeting in downtown Chicago.

Snapple sales will be down about 4.5 percent this year to $640 million, Quaker executives have said.

Smithburg - who is president, board chairman and chief executive officer since Phillip A. Martineau’s surprise resignation as president last month - said Quaker had no plans to divest either its cereal or beverage businesses. He said takeover rumors were “just that, rumors.”