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BY Likha C. Cuevas, Reporter
The Coca-Cola Co. (TCCC) has finally completed its acquisition of
the San Miguel Corp. (SMC) stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines
Inc. (CCBPI), making TCCC the sole owner of the local bottling
company.
In a joint statement issued
Thursday, the two companies announced that the acquisition of San
Miguel’s 65-percent stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers has finally been
completed with the transaction amounting to $590 million.
With the purchase, TCCC now has
the full ownership of CCBPI together with all voting and economic
rights.
“Our partnership with SMC over
the years has been extremely important to our business in the
Philippines. We are grateful to San Miguel Corp. for its continuing
support of our long-term commitment to the Philippines, and we look
forward to continued cooperation with San Miguel, who will remain a
key supplier to our business,” Muhtar Kent, the Coca-Cola Co.
president and COO, said.
Under the terms of the sale, SMC,
the Southeast Asia’s largest food and beverage company, couldn’t
up its own nonalcoholic drink business in the next five years to
keep it from directly competing with TCCC.
The two companies signed an
agreement in December last year as San Miguel decided to exit CCBPI
to have “longer term commercial flexibility.”
“The sale of Coca-Cola Bottlers
Philippines Inc. supports our company’s more focused business
model, emphasizing fully owned branded positions,” said Eduardo
Co-juangco Jr., SMC chairman, said.
According to the statement, SMC
would develop its own domestic beverage business, producing juice
drink, ready-to-drink tea to complement operations in Thailand and
Indonesia.
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