Hong Kong conglomerate Swire Pacific is buying Coca-Cola’s bottling operations in Vietnam and Cambodia, a move which will expand the group’s presence in the rapidly growing Southeast Asian beverage market.
Swire Pacific will pay Coca-Cola Indochina, which prepares, packages, distributes and sells Coca-Cola’s beverages in the two countries, US$1.015 billion in cash, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday. The deal is subject to anti-trust approval and will take place within six months of the signing of the agreement.
Swire will buy Coca-Cola Indochina through its two wholly owned subsidiaries, Swire Beverages Holdings and Swire Coca-Cola, from Coca-Cola (Japan).
