PepsiCo completes Wimm-Bill-Dann purchase
PepsiCo has completed the acquisition of a 66% stake in Wimm-Bill-Dann, it said last night (3 February).The snacks and soft drinks giant announced in December that it had struck a deal to buy a stake in the Russian firm for US$3.8bn. PepsiCo said the deal would make it the "largest food-and-beverage business" in the country.The acquisition has increased PepsiCo's total ownership of Wimm-Bill-Dann to around 77%. The firm has accumulated the additional 11% share since 2 December.PepsiCo said it will make an offer on or before 11 March to acquire the remaining Wimm-Bill-Dann shares, at $132 per share, which is the highest price PepsiCo paid to the selling shareholders.The transfer of all shares to PepsiCo is expected to be completed over the next few days.The firm expects that it will now generate annual global revenues of $13bn from nutritious and functional foods, from about $10bn currently.just-food is the world’s leading portal for the global pre-packaged food and retail industries. Its daily mix of breaking news, views, analysis and research serves over 100,000 food executives each month. http://www.just-food.com/