Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) Chief Executive Terry Davis has said the price offered to Lion Nathan shareholders solidifies their view that last year’s offer by Lion undervalued their worth.The offer for the remaining Lion Nathan shares made by Kirin at the start of the week represented a price to earnings ratio of around 13.8, comfortably above the 10.5 offered for CCA by Lion in a bid backed by Kirin last November. “What has happened is that the very high multiples paid for Lion Nathan validates... ...Read more »

Asahi’s acquisition of Schweppes is now complete, with the A$1.185 million deal going through on Friday. Todd Stitzer, CEO of Cadbury, said the UK-based firm decided to sell the Schweppes business last year to focus all attention on their extensive confectionery portfolio. “The successful sale of Schweppes Australia has completed Cadbury’s transformation into a pure-play total confectionery business,” he noted. “Cadbury is now well positioned with a clear strategy to... ...Read more »

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced it will not oppose Asahi’s $1.185 billion purchase of Cadbury’s Schweppes business in Australia. A conditional agreement between the firms was completed on December 24 last year, with a definitive sale announced on March 12, 2009. Asahi is Japan’s second largest brewer and the deal continues a trend of expansion by Japanese companies into the Australian and New Zealand beverage market as their home market stagnates. Kirin... ...Read more »

The Coca-Cola Company has decided against pursuing a counter offer for Schweppes, paving the way for Cadbury’s A$1.185 billion deal with Asahi Breweries to proceed. Cadbury announced last night that they had entered into a definitive sale and purchase agreement for the Schweppes Beverages business in Australia. A conditional agreement between the firms was completed on December 24 last year, but remained subject to a right of negotiation granted to The Coca-Cola Company in 1999 – under... ...Read more »

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has advised that it has entered into an agreement with Asahi Breweries to sell part of its stake in Tsingtao Brewery Co. for US$667 million. The divestiture of this stake in Tsingtao is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s ongoing deleveraging program, generating proceeds that will be used to repay debt incurred as a result of the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch. As a result of the transaction, Asahi will become Tsingtao’s second largest... ...Read more »

Cadbury will sell their Schweppes Beverages business in Australia for approximately A$1.185b to Japanese-brewer Asahi. The deal is pending regulatory approval and subject to a right of negotiation granted to The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) in 1999. Under this provision, TCCC has the right until March 2009 to negotiate with Cadbury regarding a potential acquisition of the Schweppes Australia business. TCCC was granted the provision after a takeover bid for Schweppes almost a decade ago failed to... ...Read more »