Food and beverage giant PepsiCo has reduced the top end of its revenue and profit forecasts as it invests more money into business improvements “that will support improved growth and profitability in 2010 and beyond”. “For example,” the company said, “PepsiCo is making infrastructure investments in developing markets, such as China, to drive increased penetration and distribution of both carbonated and non-carbonated beverages. It has also increased investments in differentiated... ...Read more »

PepsiCo, one of the world’s largest food and beverage manufacturers, has announced an improved takeover offer has been accepted by the Boards of their two largest bottlers. Pepsi Bottling Group and Pepsi Americas, who both operate in Europe, North America and Central America, entered into definitive merger agreements with PepsiCo after initially rejecting the approaches of their major shareholder. This forced PepsiCo to offer just under a quarter more than their initial proposal to reap back... ...Read more »

PepsiCo has continued in its bid to acquire its two US anchor bottlers Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas, and remains convinced that there are annual synergies of at least $200 million. After rejections from both bottlers last month, who claim the proposal undervalues their worth, PepsiCo believes there is no justification for the estimates that PBG released yesterday of purported annual synergies of $750 million to $850 million. By way of comparison, PBG previously communicated to PepsiCo that... ...Read more »

PepsiCo announced overnight that it would sue Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) and some of its directors. The news comes in the wake of PBG, Pepsi’s largest bottler, declining a takeover proposal from PepsiCo. The suit alleges that the defendants intentionally failed to provide notice of a recent PBG Board meeting to the PBG directors affiliated with PepsiCo. At that meeting, the directors in attendance claim to have adopted a “poison pill”, implemented certain new executive compensation... ...Read more »

PepsiCo’s bid to regain control over their distribution in the US has received another blow overnight with bottler Pepsi Americas rejecting their takeover offer. Last month PepsiCo made a takeover proposal to their two largest bottlers, Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) and Pepsi Americas (PAS), in a move designed to allow them to react quicker to market changes by taking over distribution. The offer has now been rejected by both bottlers, who claim the proposal undervalues their worth. PepsiCo currently... ...Read more »

PepsiCo’s bid for their largest bottler, The Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG), has been rejected as “grossly inadequate”. PepsiCo announced their intention to purchase their two largest bottlers – PBG and PepsiAmericas – around a fortnight ago as part of their plan to gain greater control over distribution. Such a move would enable the group to react to market changes and introduce new innovations more swiftly, consequently providing a competitive advantage over their main... ...Read more »

A class action lawsuit has been filed by two pension funds against the Pepsi Bottling Group alleging breaches of duty arising out of their attempt to sell Pepsi Bottling Group to PepsiCo. The surprise offer by PepsiCo for their two primary US bottlers – Pepsi Bottling and PepsiAmerica – was announced last week in an attempt to gain greater control over distribution. The move comes a decade after PepsiCo sought to separate itself from its bottlers, believing it would help the company focus... ...Read more »

First quarter profit at The Coca-Cola Company has fallen by 10 per cent, as currency fluctuations and one-time costs outweigh an increase in unit case volume of 2 per cent.Internationally, the Company achieved unit case volume growth of 3 per cent led by strong gains in the key future growth countries of India (31%) and China (10%). Latin America was resilient, while they “outperformed the industry” in Europe despite “significant macroeconomic challenges” leading to a 2 per... ...Read more »

PepsiCo has proposed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock it does not already own in its two largest anchor bottlers, The Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas, in a move that has surprised analysts. The offer, which represents a premium of 17.1 per cent over the closing price of each company on April 17, has been made to provide the world’s second largest non-alcoholic beverage group with greater control over distribution and to cut costs. The total value of the deals... ...Read more »