$1.8-B Coca-Cola PH takeover completed

ABOITIZ Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Plc. (CCEP) on Friday completed a $1.8-billion buyout of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. (CCBPI) from The Coca-Cola Co. (TCCC).

This followed the completion of “all the conditions precedent to the transaction” and the deal was settled via a “lump sum cash payment at closing with a true-up adjustment post-closing.”

AEV, in a filing, said it had executed a shareholders’ agreement “with comprehensive governance terms” with CCEP.

“The acquisition would build on AEV’s portfolio diversification into the branded consumer goods space… [and] also build on CCEP’s successful expansion into Australia,

the Pacific, and Indonesia,” the Aboitiz Group’s holding firm said.

“AEV is well-positioned to support CCBPI’s growth ambition through the synergies [that] could be generated from AEV’s other business interests in the country.”

CCBPI, the exclusive bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products in the country, operates a supply chain portfolio consisting of 73 production lines and 19 facilities.

The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) last month cleared the acquisition via CCEP Aboitiz Beverages Philippines Inc., a holding company established by AEV and CCEP.

CCEP has a 60-percent stake in the venture while AEV holds the remaining 40 percent.

Following the PCC clearance and the closing of other conditions, the holding company acquired CCBPI’s 2.4 billion shares of class A common stock with a par value of P2 and 1,000 shares of class B common stock with a par value of P1.

AEV and CCEP in November signed an agreement to jointly acquire CCBPI on a debt- and cash-free basis. This followed a nonbinding letter of intent entered into by the two companies with TCCC in August.

AEV shares closed up 85 centavos, or 1.8 percent, to P48.20 apiece on Friday amid a 0.15-percent gain for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.