Coca-Cola Denies Monster Acquisition Rumors

Coca-Cola

has denied rumors reported in the

that it is in talks to acquire Monster Beverage Corp.

. Similar rumors were reported by Benzinga

. MNST shares are getting absolutely crushed in the wake of KO's rebuttal of the reports, and are now trading in negative territory after rising as much as 18% earlier in the session. At last check, MNST was trading down 0.08% to $65.50.