Equity Method Investments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract]

Equity Method Investments

Note 6. Equity Method Investments

Equity method investments consist of our investments in entities in which we maintain an equity ownership interest and apply the equity method of accounting due to our ability to exert significant influence over decisions relating to their operating and financial affairs. Revenue and expenses of our equity method investees are not consolidated into our financial statements; rather, our proportionate share of the earnings of each investee is reflected as equity method investment net earnings. The carrying values of our equity method investments are also impacted by our proportionate share of items impacting the investee's accumulated other comprehensive income or losses and other items, such as our share of investee dividends.

Our equity method investments include, but are not limited to, our ownership interests in Jacobs Douwe Egberts ("JDE"), Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (NYSE: "KDP"), Dong Suh Foods Corporation and Dong Suh Oil & Fats Co. Ltd. As of March 31, 2020, we owned 26.4%, 13.1%, 50.0% and 49.0%, respectively, of these companies' outstanding shares.

Our investments accounted for under the equity method of accounting totaled $6,887 million as of March 31, 2020 and $7,212 million as of December 31, 2019. We recorded equity earnings and cash dividends of $138 million and $165 million in the first three months of 2020 and equity earnings and cash dividends of $113 million and $160 million in the first three months of 2019.

Keurig Dr Pepper Transactions:

On July 9, 2018, Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. ("Keurig") closed on its definitive merger agreement with Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., and formed KDP, a publicly traded company. Following the close of the transaction, our 24.2% investment in Keurig together with our shareholder loan receivable became a 13.8% investment in KDP. During 2018, we recorded a net pre-tax gain of $778 million (or $586 million after-tax). We hold two director positions on the KDP board as well as additional governance rights. As we continue to have significant influence, we continue to account for our investment in KDP under the equity method, resulting in recognizing our share of their earnings within our earnings and our share of their dividends within our cash flows.

In connection with this transaction, we changed our accounting principle during the third quarter of 2018 to reflect our share of Keurig's historical and KDP's ongoing earnings on a one-quarter lag basis while we continue to record dividends when cash is received. We determined a lag was preferable as it enables us to continue to report our quarterly and annual results on a timely basis and to record our share of KDP’s ongoing results once KDP has publicly reported its results. The change was retrospectively applied to all prior periods presented.

During the first quarter of 2019, we recognized a pre-tax gain of $23 million (or $18 million after-tax) related to the impact of a KDP acquisition that decreased our ownership interest from 13.8% to 13.6%.

On March 4, 2020, we participated in a secondary offering of KDP shares and sold approximately 6.8 million shares, which reduced our ownership interest by 0.5% to 13.1% of the total outstanding shares. We received $185 million of proceeds and recorded a pre-tax gain of $71 million (or $54 million after-tax) during the three months ended March 31, 2020. We continue to retain significant influence.

Based on the quoted closing price as of March 31, 2020, the fair value of our investment in KDP was $4.5 billion, which exceeded the carrying value of our investment.