Yesterday saw the announcement of a merger of three Coca-Cola bottlers in Western Europe. Here, just-drinks looks at the details behind the deal:
- The combination of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), Coca-Cola Iberian Partners (CCIP), and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke (CCEAG) will result in the creation of Coca-Cola European Partners
- The new entity will become the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler based on sales by value
- Ownership structure: CCE shareholders to own 48%, CCIP shareowners to own 34%, and The Coca-Cola Co (TCCC), which controls CCEAG, will hold 18%
- Coca-Cola European Partners will operate in 13 markets: Andorra, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden
- In volume terms last year, CCE hit 1.3bn unit cases, CCIP brought in 500m cases while CCEAG generated volume sales of 700m cases. The 2.5bn-case total will trail Coca-Cola FEMSA's volumes of 3.4bn
- Pro-forma net sales in 2014 from the combined regions totalled US$12.4bn. The largest markets are Spain (21%), the UK (20%), Germany (19%) and France (18%)
- The transaction will close during the second quarter of 2016