Coke executive rules out any buyout bid on Foster’s
Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL) flatly denied on Thursday that it is set to join the fray in bidding for the wine division of Foster's Group Ltd following the brewer's turning down of a takeover proposal earlier this week.
The country's biggest wine maker rejected the $US2.5 billion bid reportedly pushed forward by Cerberus Capital Management Ltd on Wednesday though Foster's did not discount the possibility that a more attractive offer could the company into making serious consideration of a proposal.
Coca-Cola Amatil managing director Terry Davis told reporters in New York that he has no interest in the beer business, which has been his previous pronouncement as he stressed that "nothing has changed and we've been on an organic growth focus."
Mr Davis, who used to manage Foster's wine division prior to joining Coca-Cola in 2001, said that the prospect of acquisition at this stage would not be fruitful as he stressed that the multiples being paid for potential Australian targets were fairly non-sustainable.