GAZETTE REPORTER
Africa’s largest Coca-Cola bottler, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa Proprietary Limited (CCBA), announced that it has received the requisite regulatory approval to acquire the Coca-Cola soft drinks business, Beverage Manufacturers (Botswana) (Pty) Ltd and has already commenced operations effective, 26 November 2018
On 3 July 2018, Strategic Alliance JV (SAJV) (a wholly owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (Pty) Ltd (CCBA)), together with among others, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (ABI), signed the Botswana Master Purchase Agreement in terms of which SAJV will acquire 50.1 percent of Beverage Manufacturers (Botswana) (Pty) Ltd (Botswana SoftCo). The balance of 49.9 percent in Botswana SoftCo will be owned by Sechaba Brewery Holdings Ltd (Sechaba), a listed company in Botswana.
With this acquisition, the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink business, Beverages Manufacturers (Pty) Limited will now trade as Coca-Cola Beverages Botswana (CCBB).
This acquisition by CCBA adds one more plant to its footprint on the continent. CCBA bottles and distributes beverages whose trademarks are owned by The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) or TCCC’s affiliated entities and is the world’s 8th largest Coca-Cola bottler by revenue. Including the Botswana acquisition, CCBA now has over 15 000 employees across its operations in Africa with 31 bottling plants in 11 countries. There will be no retrenchments as a result of the merger in Botswana and the shareholder terms will be maintained.
Commenting on the transaction, CCBA International Division managing director, Jacques Vermeulen said, “The acquisition makes perfect sense both for us and for consumers in Botswana. We see a compelling long-term growth opportunity for non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages in Botswana.
“This acquisition of Beverages Manufacturers (Pty) Limited will allow us to share best practices and improve our service for both the formal and informal markets and at the same time, accelerate innovation. It will also allow us to achieve enhanced efficiencies which, in turn, will mean an improved and more seamless service for customers,” said Vermeulen.