Investments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]

Note 7. Investments

Equity Method Investments

Our equity method investments include, but are not limited to, our ownership interests in Dong Suh Foods Corporation and Dong Suh Oil & Fats Co. Ltd. Our ownership interests may change over time due to investee stock-based compensation arrangements, share issuances or other equity-related transactions. As of December 31, 2024, we owned 50.0% and 49.0%, respectively, of these companies' outstanding shares.

On November 29, 2024, we sold our remaining 85.9 million shares in JDE Peet’s (Euronext Amsterdam: “JDEP”) to JAB Holdings Company. We received €2.2 billion ($2.3 billion) of proceeds at a price of €25.10 per share and recorded a gain on equity method investment transactions of €313 million ($332 million) during 2024. As a result of this transaction, we have fully exited our investment in the company.

Our investments accounted for under the equity method of accounting totaled $0.6 billion as of December 31, 2024 and $3.2 billion as of December 31, 2023. The investment balance as of December 31, 2023 is inclusive of our prior investment in JDEP. We recorded equity earnings and cash dividends of $168 million and $115 million in 2024, equity earnings and cash dividends of $160 million and $137 million in 2023 and equity earnings and cash dividends of $385 million and $184 million in 2022.

Additional JDEP Transactions

In 2024, we determined there was an other-than-temporary impairment for JDEP based on the period of time for which the quoted market price fair value had been less than the carrying value of the investment and the uncertainty surrounding JDEP's stock price recovering to the carrying value. As a result, the investment was written down to its estimated fair value based on the closing price of the underlying equity security of €19.46 per share on March 28, 2024, resulting in an impairment charge of €612 million ($665 million). This charge was included within (Loss)/gain on equity method investment transactions in the consolidated statement of earnings.

In 2023, we sold approximately 9.9 million shares of JDEP, which reduced our ownership interest by 2.0 percentage points, from 19.7% to 17.7%. We received cash proceeds of €255 million ($279 million) and recorded a loss of €21 million ($23 million).

In 2022, we sold approximately 18.6 million of our JDEP shares back to JDEP, which reduced our ownership interest by approximately 3.0 percentage points. We received cash proceeds of €500 million ($529 million) and recorded a loss of €8 million ($8 million) on this sale during 2022.

Marketable Securities

During the first quarter of 2023, our ownership in Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (Nasdaq: "KDP") fell to below 5% of the outstanding shares, resulting in a change of accounting for our KDP investment, from equity method investment accounting to accounting for equity interests with readily determinable fair values ("marketable securities") as we no longer retained significant influence. Marketable securities are measured at fair value based on quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1).

Subsequently in 2023, we sold the remainder of our shares of KDP and exited our investment in the company. In total during 2023, we sold approximately 76 million shares and received proceeds of $2.4 billion.

Pre-tax gains for marketable securities are summarized below:


	Year Ended December 31, 2023
	(in millions)
Gain on marketable securities sold during the period	$	593
Dividend income and other	13
Total gain on marketable securities	$	606

In the table above, gain on marketable securities sold during the period reflects the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the equity securities at the date of the change of accounting for our investment in KDP.

Prior to the change of accounting for our KDP investment, we recorded a pre-tax gain on equity method transactions of $493 million ($368 million after-tax) during 2023.