Suntrust dumps Coke shares but keeps recipe

SunTrust said it sold 10 million shares of the beverage maker in June and will be another 3.6 million shares in a charitable trust. The remaining 30 million shares were put into a structured transaction to be sold in seven years.

The June sale generated $1.16 billion
in cash proceeds that boosts SunTrust's capital reserves, S&P
said. "Together, the three-part transaction significantly
boosted tangible capitalization, which gives SunTrust additional
flexibility to deal with its current asset quality problems."

The bank that holds the top secret
recipe for Coca-Cola in its vault in Atlanta, Georgia has been forced
to sell its stake in the US soft drinks bottler to bolster its
balance sheet.

SunTrust has held Coke shares since
1919, when its predecessor bank Trust of Georgia, helped to float on
the US stock exchange what was to become the world's most famous
brand.

SunTrust also holds the closely-guarded
secret recipe for Coke in its main vault, reputedly allowing just two
company executives acccess to the document at any one time.

The original recipe took on even
greater importance in 1985 when the release of a "New Coke"
was met with a backlash by loyal drinkers. Protests caused the
company to return to the previous formula under the name Coca-Cola
Classic on July 10, 1985.