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COCA-COLA Co. will pay $3.15 billion to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev NV out of an African bottling joint venture after the Budweiser brewer’s takeover of the US beverage company’s partner in the region.
Yesterday’s announcement comes just over two months after the companies said they were in negotiations following AB InBev’s completion of the takeover of SABMiller. Coca-Cola also agreed to buy AB InBev’s interest in bottling operations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, El Salvador and Honduras for an undisclosed sum.
For Coca-Cola, the acquisition of AB InBev’s 54.5 percent stake in the venture provides a firm footing in a region that is probably one of the last where it can grow its core soft drinks products, said Sasha Naryshkine, an analyst at Johannesburg-based money manager Vestact Ltd. The transaction continues AB InBev’s asset pruning following its purchase of SABMiller, coming only days after the brewer agreed to sell its central and eastern European assets to Asahi Group Holdings Ltd.
The US drinks maker is looking to speed up the refranchising of its bottling operations as it seeks to reduce exposure to facilities that are more capital-intensive and lower-margin.
Consumer and retail companies reported $306 billion in mergers this year, a 45 percent decline on the $556 billion in 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. AB InBev agreed to buy SABMiller for about $100 billion, a deal included in last year’s figures. — Bloomberg
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