ATLANTA — The Coca-Cola Co. on Dec. 21 announced an agreement to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev’s 54.5% equity stake in Africa’s largest Coca-Cola bottling operations for $3.15 billion. Coca-Cola Beverages Africa includes the countries of South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ghana, Mayotte and Comoros.
Additionally, the companies reached an agreement in principle for Coca-Cola to acquire the Belgian beer maker’s interest in bottling operations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, El Salvador and Honduras for an undisclosed amount. The transactions remain subject to regulatory approvals and are expected to close by the end of 2017.
Coca-Cola said it will hold all of these territories temporarily until they can be refranchised to other partners. The Atlanta-based company intends to account for the acquired stakes as a discontinued operation for reporting purposes.
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| Muhtar Kent, chairman and c.e.o. of Coca-Cola |
