可口可乐以150亿美元收购瓶装业务

Cola is close to buying the North American operations of its largest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises, for between $13-15bn, in a dramatic reversal of a strategy the soft-drink maker had embraced for more than 20 years.

Coke’s possible reunion with CCE, which went public in 1986, mirrors the steps PepsiCo took last year to snap up its largest bottlers. And like PepsiCo’s deals with Pepsi Bottling Group and Pepsi Americas, the CCE acquisition would grant Coke greater flexibility and control in how it distributes sodas and non-carbonated beverages to different retail customers.

Coke’s US bottlers are handling an increasingly broad range of small brands, including tea, juices and enhanced water, as well as its established soda brands.

As part of the proposed deal, CCE would in turn acquire Coke’s bottling businesses in Scandinavia and Germany, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. The up to $15bn that Coke will likely pay for the North American business includes debt, according to the people.

Discussions between the two companies had continued late Wednesday, and the possibility remained that the talks could end without a deal, the people said.

Coke and CCE could not be reached for comment on the discussions.

CCE’s shares surged more than 25 per cent in late trading. Coke slipped less than 1 per cent in after-hours trading.

Wal-Mart Stores’ emergence as the dominant retailer, new trends in consumer tastes and the onset of hundreds of new beverage brands have chipped away at the benefits Coke and PepsiCo enjoyed in keeping their biggest bottlers at arms’ length.

The separation gave bottlers little incentive to take risks with new products, and left the two sides haggling over how to share sales.

Coke holds a 35 per cent stake in Coca-Cola Enterprises, which also bottles and distributes Coke in parts of western Europe, including the UK.

CCE is the largest of a patchwork of 74 different US bottlers that buy soda syrup from Coke and then bottle and distribute the finished drinks, usually delivering directly to stores. nd direct company sales.

可口可乐(Coca-Cola)已接近以130亿至150亿美元的价格，收购它最大瓶装厂Coca-Cola Enterprises（简称CCE）的北美业务。这意味着这家软饮料巨头坚持了二十多年的一项战略正在发生重大逆转。

可口可乐如与1986年上市的CCE“重聚”，则是在跟随百事可乐(PepsiCo)的步伐，后者去年兼并了其最大瓶装厂Pepsi Bottling Group以及PepsiCo Americas。兼并CCE将使得可口可乐在向不同的零售顾客分销汽水和非碳酸饮料时，掌握更大的灵活性和控制权。

除了已为市场熟知的饮料产品之外，可口可乐在美国的瓶装厂还在负责越来越多的小品牌的业务，包括茶、果汁和瓶装水。

知情人士周四透露，根据收购提案，可口可乐可能要支付高达150亿美元收购CCE的北美业务，包括后者的债务。与此同时，CCE将反过来收购可口可乐在斯堪的纳维亚和德国的瓶装业务。

[被屏蔽广告]两家公司在周三深夜还在继续商讨。知情人事表示，还存在交易在最后一分钟失败的可能性。

英国《金融时报》无法联系到可口可乐和CCE进行置评。

CCE股价在晚些的交易中上涨逾25%，可口可乐在收盘之后跌不到1%。

可口可乐和百事可乐曾经倾向于与瓶装厂保持一定距离，认为这样可以带来更大的商业优势。但随着沃尔玛崛起为一家超级零售商、消费者口味上出现新趋势、以及数百个新的饮料品牌的出现，这种优势正在逐渐被侵蚀。将瓶装厂分离出去，使得它们对冒险尝试新产品失去了兴趣，而双方还常常要为如何分享收入拌嘴。

可口可乐目前持有CCE35%的股份。CCE还负责可口可乐在包括英国在内的一些西欧市场的瓶装和分销工作。

CCE是可口可乐遍及美国的72家瓶装厂中最大的一家。这些瓶装厂从可口可乐购买糖浆，装瓶后，通常直接销售给店家。