6 August 2009

PepsiCo pays $7.8 billion for bottlers

PepsiCo bought its two largest bottlers in order to consolidate 80% of its North American beverage volume, which it said would speed the decision-making process and eliminate friction between the companies.

The company had to raise its initial offer by 20% to make the deal go down.

PepsiCo bought Pepsi Bottling Group Inc., and PepsiAmericas Inc. PepsiCo already owned stakes in the bottlers.

The expectation is the deal will create annual savings of $300 million by 2012 and add about 15 cents per share to its earnings when the savings are fully realized in 2012, PepsiCo said.

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