Coca-Cola Co. announced that it is ready to buy China Culiangwang Beverages Holdings Ltd, a Chinese drinks business. This is Coca-Cola’s first attempt to purchase a Chinese company after it was rejected Beijing of its bid for a company that was making juices and nectars six years ago.
Coca-Cola is buying China Culiangwang Beverages Holdings Ltd. for an enterprise value of $400.5 million. The Chinese drinks firm revealed this information in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday. China Culiangwang drinks operation makes “multigrain beverages” with unique flavors such as red bean, walnut and oats. Coke management is unavailable for comment regarding the acquisition.
To recall, Coke had been steadily acquiring juice, water, and other noncarbonated drinks around the world to improve its portfolio. However, its intention of becoming the biggest beverage manufacturer in China through a $2.4 billion bid for China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd in 2009 was turned down by China’s Ministry of Commerce on antitrust grounds. This deal would have been deemed as the largest takeover by a foreign company of a Chinese food or beverage maker.
But Coca- Cola is not yet completely out of the woods yet, the China Culiangwang’s multigrain drinks transaction is also subject to the approval by the Ministry of Commerce. The popular Chinese healthy beverage company said it expects to book a gain of 1.12 billion yuan ($181 million) from the disposal and will utilize this to repay the outstanding bonds and other debt.
China Culiangwang’s multigrain beverages are very popular in the country. Branded as health drinks, these have a huge market in China. China Culiangwang mentioned in a report that its multigrain beverage business’s unaudited net profit on a pro forma basis was 193 million yuan last year and this was 17% higher from 164.9 million yuan in 2013. China Culiangwang also manufactures snacks, biscuits and cereals.
Coca- Cola’s acquisition of the grain-drinks maker is when the beverage company is coping with slow sales in China. Coke has posted a 55% reduction in its fourth-quarter profit amid weak sales in markets including China, Europe and Mexico in February. The company also mentioned that its fourth-quarter volumes also diminished at 1% in Europe and in Mexico These regions consumes more Coke products per capita than any other country. An increase in volume was seen in Asia; however there were declines of 1% in Japan and 3% in China. The Atlanta beverage company was not available for immediate comment regarding the matter.
About Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company or Coke is from Atlanta, Georgia. It produces Coca- Cola or Coke which is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines all over the world as a patent medicine when it was invented in the late 19th century by John Pemberton, It was purchased by businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing strategies helped Coke dominate the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.
The Coca – Cola Company manufactures concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers world. The bottlers have territorially exclusive contracts with the company and these companies produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers will be able to sell The Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for soda fountains to major restaurants and food service distributors.
The Coca-Cola Company has introduced other cola drinks under the Coke brand name. The most common is Diet Coke, with others including Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero and Coca-Cola Vanilla. There are also flavors that are available during versions with lemon, lime, or coffee. It was estimated that in 2013, Coke products is available in over 200 countries worldwide, with consumers drinking billions of Coca- Cola products every day. According to Interbrand’s best global brand study of 2011, Coca-Cola was the world’s most valuable brand. Coca-Cola stock market evolution: http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/ko
About China Culiangwang Beverages Holdings Limited
China Culiangwang Beverages Holdings Limited, formerly China Green (Holdings) Limited, is an investment holding company. The Company is focused on growing, processing and sale of agricultural products, consumer food and beverage products. China Culiangwang has three divisions: fresh produce and processed products segment, which grows and processes and sells agricultural products; branded beverage products segment, which manufactures and sells branded beverage products, and branded food products and others segment, which processes and sells branded food products. The Company’s subsidiaries include China Green (Jiangxi) Food Science Technique Limited, China Green (Fujian) Food Import & Export Co. Limited, China Green Resources (Xiamen) Sales Company Limited, China Green Harvest (Xiamen) Frozen Food Company Limited, Zhonglu (Fujian) Food Industry Limited and Zhonglu (Fujian) Agriculture Comprehensive Development Company Limited, among others. China Culiangwang Beverages Holdings Limited stock market evolution: http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/0904
