The biggest story of last week was, without doubt, PepsiCo's acquisition of a majority stake in juice producer Wimm-Bill-Dann. The US$3.8bn purchase for 66% of the Russian firm sets the scene for yet another market battle between the soft drinks and snack firm and its red nemesis, The Coca-Cola Co.

The purchase will see the long-standing rivals go head-to-head once more, but this time with the added spice of 'Russian-ness' in the mix. With Wimm-Bill-Dann and PepsiCo's existing Lebedyansky business in the country accounting for between 40% and 50% of Russia's juice market, and Coca-Cola's Multon and Nidan units laying claim to about 30% market share, we can expect quite a tussle between the two companies.

It's good to see the rivalry still going strong, and the geographical shift to one of the developing markets of the world suggests there are still many more arenas available.

For a full round-up of PepsiCo's purchase, click here.

On the subject of acquisitions, our beer guru, Larry Nelson, suggested last week that the lack of activity in M&A this year for the world's brewers could be a precursor to the next round of consolidation. And, that could come at any time soon.

As the end of 2010, approaches, we began our review of the year last week, rounding up 12 months in the bottled water industry. In the next three weeks, we'll also be looking at the beer, soft drinks, spirits and wine categories. If you're not yet a member of just-drinks, and you'd like to get the full set of reviews, then click here to subscribe.

Until next time...

Olly Wehring
Managing Editor
Web: http://www.just-drinks.com
Email: editor@just-drinks.com
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