Aboitiz, CCEP offer to buy local bottler of Coca-Cola

By VG Cabuag @villygc

A e V said Wednesday that the two companies have entered into a nonbinding letter of intent with t he Coca-Cola Co. ( tCCC), setting out the terms on which A eV and CCep propose to acquire 100 percent ownership in Coca-Cola Beverages philippines Inc. (CCBp), the local bottling unit of the soft drink company.

t he amount of acquisition will be on a debt-free, cash-free basis, consistent with tCCC’s intent to divest its bottling operations, A eV said.

“If completed, the proposed acquisition would build on A eV ’s portfolio diversification strategy to enter the branded consumer goods space and on CCep ’s successful expansion into the Asia-pacific region via its acquisition of Coca-Cola Amatil in 2021,” the company said.

“A eV would be well positioned to support CCBp ’s growth ambition given the synergies that can be generated from A eV ’s other businesses.”

A eV ’s said its proposed acquisi- tion of CCBp with CCep offers a “great opportunity” to co-acquire an established, well-run business with attractive profitability and growth prospects, the company said. t he philippines is Coca-Cola’s second largest market in Southeast Asia. t he local bottling company’s operations in the philippines have always been colorful.

“ t here is, therefore, no certainty at this stage, that the proposed acquisition of CCBp will be completed, and as such, further updates will be provided in due course,” the company said.

A e V, however, said that assuming the definitive agreements will be agreed on and executed, the potential transaction is expected to close around the end of this year, subject to the receipt of certain governmental and regulatory approvals, including clearance from the ph ilippine Competition Commission.

San Miguel Brewery Inc. was the first to bring Coca-Cola products to the country in 1927. In the 1980s, the conglomerate spun off its soft drink business to become t he Coca Cola Bottlers philippines Inc., which became a joint venture between San Miguel Corp. and Atlanta’s t he CocaCola Co.

In 1997, San Miguel entered into a deal with Australia’s Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd. in exchange for a-25 percent stake in the Australian company. t he local conglomerate later on sold all of its holdings in Amatil.

In 2001, San Miguel joined forces with t he Coca-Cola Co. to reacquire Coca-Cola Bottlers from the Australian company, with the local conglomerate garnering a 65-percent stake.

In 2007, the US firm bought the entire stake of San Miguel in the local bottling unit and then sold 51 percent of it to Coca-Cola Femsa SA, the world’s second largest bottler of the product, in 2012. It later on sold its stake back to t he Coca-Cola Co.