Coca-Cola Europacific Partners is looking to acquire fellow bottler Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines.
The UK-headquartered group and Philippines conglomerate Aboitiz Equity Ventures have signed a “letter of intent” to team up to buy Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines (CCBPI).
Under the plans, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners would own 60% of the business, with power-to-financial services group Aboitiz Equity Ventures holding the rest.
The proposed deal values CCBPI at $1.8bn, on a debt-free and cash-free basis.
CCEP already has operations in Indonesia, where it acquired full ownership of its local business from The Coca-Cola Co. earlier this year. A deal two years earlier for fellow bottler Coca-Cola Amatil gave CCEP assets in markets including Australia and New Zealand. CCEP houses the Indonesian and former Coca-Cola Amatil assets in a division called API.
Damian Gammell, CCEP’s chief executive, said the acquisition of CCBPI “would be a natural next step for CCEP, creating a more diverse footprint within our existing API business segment, support Indonesia’s transformation journey and underpin our strategic mid-term objectives”.
In a stock-exchange filing, CCEP said the transaction is still subject to conditions, including due diligence – described as “well underway” – and regulatory approval. The deal, if completed, is expected to be finalised around the end of 2023.
Nevertheless, CCEP said its proposed new asset was “a successful business with attractive profitability and growth prospects”.
Presenting data given by CCBPI’s management, CCEP said the business sold around 650m unit cases in its 2022 fiscal year, generating revenues of approximately $1.7bn. It gave no comparative figures for a year earlier. The business, based in Makati in metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines, has 19 factories.
CCBPI accounts for 43% of the non-alcoholic RTD market in the Philippines and 69% of the sparkling segment, CCEP added, citing Nielsen data.
The planned transaction was announced alongside CCEP’s first-half financial results.
Revenue was up 8.5% at €8.98bn ($9.87bn), or by 10.5% when excluding the impact of exchange rates.
Operating profit jumped 21% to €1.17bn. On a comparable and constant-currency basis, operating profit grew 13%.
Profit after tax increased 26.5% to €854m, or by 16.5% on an underlying basis.
Shares in CCEP, up more than 11% so far this year, were down 0.17% in early trading at €57.40 at 08:22 BST.
