PepsiCo Back in Talks with Quaker Oats

PepsiCo Inc., the second-largest soft drink company, resumed talks to buy Quaker Oats Co. for about $13.5 billion to gain its top-selling Gatorade sports drink, a person familiar with the situation said. Negotiations between the companies broke off Nov. 2, sources said. Quaker Oats rejected the beverage maker’s all-stock offer because PepsiCo wouldn’t fix a price within a set limit on how far its shares might rise or fall. The two sides renewed talks after PepsiCo agreed to a fixed price of about $103 a share, provided its stock trades within a defined range, the person said. Shares of PepsiCo, based in Purchase, N.Y., were unchanged at $45.38 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has dropped 3.6% since Nov. 2. Quaker Oats fell 94 cents to $86.94 on the NYSE. Chicago-based Quaker Oats held unsuccessful talks with Coca-Cola Co. and Group Danone after the negotiations with PepsiCo failed.