(Reuters) - Coors Light beer maker Molson Coors ( TAP/A ) will take a 8.5% stake in UK's Fevertree Drinks ( FQVTF ) for 71 million pounds ($88.3 million) to expand its portfolio of non-alcoholic beverage offerings in the U.S., the companies said on Thursday.

Fevertree, known for its cocktail mixers, tonic water, ginger beers, ginger ales and other lightly flavoured sodas, said it will return the proceeds to shareholders via a share buyback programme from next month.

The British company has banked on strong sales growth in the U.S., its largest market by revenue, to navigate through concerns about weaker consumer spending and macroeconomic woes.

U.S. revenue grew 12% at constant currency for 2024, it said.

Molson Coors ( TAP/A ), which has been grappling with a hit to volumes in the U.S. amid higher prices, will acquire the stake by issuing about 10.9 million shares priced at 654.2 pence each.

(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi and Aby Jose Koilparambil; Editing by Savio D'Souza and Varun H K)