Coca-Cola Beverages Africa
Company typePrivate
IndustryBeverages
Founded2014 (by merger)
Number of locations
40 bottling plants
Area served
Africa
Key people
Jacques Vermeulen[1]
Group CEO
ProductsThe Coca-Cola Company Products
Other Soft Drinks
OwnerThe Coca-Cola Company
Gutsche Family Investments
WebsiteHomepage

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is a company that was formed in 2014 from the merger of SABMiller plc, The Coca-Cola Company and Gutsche Family Investments beverage bottling operations in Southern and East Africa.[2]

Overview

On 27 November 2014, SABMiller plc, The Coca-Cola Company and GFI (controlling 80% of Coca-Cola South African Bottling Company (Sabco) ) announced they had come to terms on a merger.[3] The merger would be executed in two phases. The first phase took 6–9 months, and the second would commence after the completion of the first phase, and last for around 12–18 months. The merger deal made Coca-Cola Beverages Africa the largest bottler in Africa and the 10th largest in the world,[4] with annual revenue of US$3 billion.[5] Coca-Cola Beverages Africa serves 12 countries, employs 12,000 people and accounts for 40 per cent of the total Coca-Cola beverage volume consumed in Africa.[6] The merged business has its head office in South Africa.[7]

Merger

Merger Parties

SABMiller

SABMiller plc was a multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in London, England with its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary Listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It was the world's second-largest brewer measured by revenues (after the Belgian-Brazilian Anheuser-Busch InBev) and was also the largest bottler of Coca-Cola in Africa.[8][9]

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is a multinational beverage corporation headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.[10] Its stock is listed on the NYSE. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia.[11]

Coca-Cola Sabco

Coca-Cola Sabco is the second largest Coca-Cola bottler in Africa (after SABMiller) and has been a Coca-Cola bottler since 1940. The firm is 80% owned by Gutsche Family Investments and its headquarters are in Gqeberha, South Africa. Coca-Cola Sabco grew rapidly through a series of acquisition across Africa. Coca-Cola Sabco has over 8,000 employees and operates in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda.[12]

Merger Details

The merger of the three parties' operations was through a cashless transaction.[13] The process was done in two phases:[7]

Phase I

During the first phase the parties will contribute their business interests to Coca-Cola Beverages Africa as follows:

Phase I will give Coca-Cola Beverages Africa access to nine countries i.e. South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Comoros and Mayotte and is expected to be completed within 6–9 months.

Phase II

SABMiller will contribute to Coca-Cola Beverages Africa its soft drinks bottling businesses of Swaziland Beverages Ltd (now Eswatini Beverages) in Eswatini, Sechaba Brewery Holdings and Zambian Breweries Plc that are listed subsidiaries on the Botswana and Zambia Stock Exchange respectively.

Phase II is expected to be completed within 18 months after the completion of Phase I due to the regulatory and shareholder approvals. At the conclusion of Phase II, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa will have presence in South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Namibia, Comoros, Mayotte, Eswatini, Botswana and Zambia.

Addition Deal

In addition to the deal, The Coca-Cola Company agreed to acquire sparkling soft drink Appletiser brands globally, and buy or be licensed for a further 19 non-alcoholic names in Africa and Latin America from SABMiller for about $260 million.[13][14]

Shareholding after Merger

Upon conclusion of the merger, shareholding in the stock of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa's as follows:[7][13]

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Stock Ownership
Rank Name of Owner Percentage Ownership
1 The Coca-Cola Company 68.3
2 Gutsche Family Investments 31.7
Total 100.00

Progress

As at 31 July 2015, the merger transaction was yet to be concluded. It had however received regulatory approval from the COMESA Competition commission.[15]

Following its acquisition of SABMiller,[16] Anheuser-Busch InBev announced that it would sell its 57% acquired stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa to the Coca-Cola Company. This would give the Coca-Cola Company 68.3% stake in the merged business.[17][18] The deal was valued at $3.15 billion and the Coca-Cola Company would hold onto the investment until it found a new owner.[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Coca-Cola Beverages Africa appoints new group chief executive
  2. ^ "Coca-Cola Company, SABMiller and Gutsche Family Investments to combine the bottling operations". CNBC Africa. ABN Digital. 27 November 2014. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  3. ^ "The Coca-Cola Company, SABMiller And Coca-Cola SABCO To Form Coca-Cola Beverages Africa". The Coca-Cola Company. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  4. ^ Matinson, Alec (27 November 2014). "Coca-Cola and SABMiller combine African soft drinks bottling operations". The Grocer. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  5. ^ "SABMiller, Coca-Cola Form Joint Bottling Venture in Africa". Bloomberg Businessweek. Bloomberg L.P. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  6. ^ Thomas, Nathalie (27 November 2014). "SABMiller agrees $3bn Coca-Cola bottling deal". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b c "Press Releases - The Coca-Cola Company, SABMiller plc and Coca-Cola Sabco to form Coca-Cola Beverages Africa" (PDF). SABMiller. 27 November 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Company Snapshot 2010" (PDF). SABMiller plc. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  9. ^ "SABMiller, Asahi eye Foster's beer unit: sources". Reuters. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  10. ^ "The Coca-Cola Brands". coca-colacompany.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Who Invented Coca Cola?". Whoinventedit.net. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  12. ^ "Coca-Cola Sabco – What a Journey!". Coca-Cola Sabco. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  13. ^ a b c "UPDATE 2-SABMiller, Coke team up to bottle Africa's fizzy drinks". Reuters. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  14. ^ Hedley, Nick (28 November 2014). "SABMiller forges closer Coca-Cola ties". BDLive. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  15. ^ "Case File No. CCC/MER/03/03/2015" (PDF). COMESA. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  16. ^ Mickle, Tripp (28 September 2016). "SABMiller, AB InBev Shareholders Approve $100 Billion-Plus Merger". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  17. ^ "Coca-Cola moves away from AB InBev with Africa bottling deal". Business Daily Africa. Nation Media Group. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  18. ^ Nicholson, Lucy (10 October 2016). "Coca-Cola to buy AB InBev's stake in African bottler". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  19. ^ "Coke moves away from AB InBev with Africa bottling deal". Reuters. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
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