PHILIPPINES: San Miguel and Coke reach agreement?

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 11 October 2006

San Miguel Corp and the Coca-Cola Company have reached agreement on the sale of San Miguel's stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, according to local reports.

Citing an unnamed source familiar with the situation, the Philippine Star said yesterday (10 October) that the two companies have agreed that Coke should take management and operational control of the bottling business.

The source described the agreement as a "done deal", although a San Miguel source was cited in the report saying that a conclusion had not been reached yet. "Discussions on the ownership of CCBPI are still going on," the source told the paper.

San Miguel owns 65% of CCBPI with Coke controlling the remaining 35%. The company has reportedly suffered a slowdown in sales in recent years, with first-half revenues this year sliding by 4% to PHP19bn (US$377.3m).

In July, San Miguel announced that it was looking to offload its stake in CCBPI, when its five-year bottling and royalty agreement with Coke expired. Talks were initiated with Coke which are thought to have covered a number of possibilities, including Coke taking control and SMC retaining a minority interest.

Sectors: Soft drinks, Water

Companies: Coke