RUSSIA: Lebedyansky shareholders vote for Pepsico deal - report

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 17 June 2008

Minority shareholders in Russia's OAO Lebedyansky have voted to sell its juice business to US soft drinks giant PepsiCo, the newspaper Kommersant reported today (17 June).

In March, PepsiCo and The Pepsi Bottling Group agreed to jointly acquire a majority stake in Lebedyansky.

The companies said they paid US$1.4bn for a stake of over 75% in the Russian juice company, excluding the company's baby food and mineral water business. The investment is led by a plan for "continued expansion of the Russian juice category," said PBG president and CEO Eric Foss.

Lebedyansky, which is the sixth-largest juice manufacturer in the world and the largest in Russia, saw annual revenues last year of around $800m from its juice business.

Sectors: Soft drinks

Companies: Lebedyansky, PepsiCo, The Pepsi Bottling Group