AFRICA – The Coca-Cola Company plans to exercise its right to acquire Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (AB InBev) stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) following the closing of the acquisition of SABMiller by AB InBev.
According to a statement, Coca-Cola has chosen to exercise its right to acquire AB InBev’s stake in CCBA because it “intends to implement its long-term strategic plan” in the African markets with other partners.
It says that it has a number of existing partners who are “highly qualified and interested in these bottling territories.”
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), a recent created company following the merger of SABMiller’s soft drink businesses in several eastern, central, southern and western African markets with Coca-Cola and the Gutsche Family Investments (GFI) from South Africa, started operations in July.
CCBA serves 14 high growth countries, accounting for about 40% of all Coca-Cola beverage volumes in Africa.
The countries include South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ghana, Mayotte, Comoros and Nigeria. Botswana, Swaziland and Zambia are expected to join CCBA by the end of 2017.
SABMiller had a 57% shareholding in CCBA, with GFI taking 31.7% and Coca-Cola, 11.3%.
With the planned acquisition, Coca-Cola will take a majority stake of 68.3% before selling it to other bottling operators.
Coca-Cola says that it will negotiate the terms of the transaction with AB InBev over the next few months, while engaging with potential partners to refranchise CCBA as soon as possible.
