Coca-Cola completes ownership takeover of Chi
The Coca-Cola Company, the producer of the leading carbonated soft drink, Coca-Cola, may have finally taken over the ownership of Chi Limited.
The Cola-Cola Company announced the acquisition of 100% equity stake in the issued and paid up share capital of Chi Limited consisting of 207, 419,516 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.
According to the company, the transaction was completed on January 30, 2019, noting that the announcement was made in accordance with the Rules and Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Coca-Cola Company further stressed that the acquisition provides an opportunity for the company to grow as a Total Beverage Company.
“Chi Limited’s diverse range of beverages complements our existing portfolio, enabling us to accelerate expansion into new categories and grow the business in Nigeria and Africa.
The announcement of the full acquisition of Chi Limited was made through the European Refreshments and The Coca-Cola Export Corporation in the various national newspapers in Nigeria for mass awareness creation.
Recall that the acquisition of Chi Limited by the U.S. Company is taking in a global strategy to diversify from its core business of sugary sodas.
Last year, The Coca-Cola Company agreed to buy Costa coffee for $5.1 billion, and sources familiar with the matter say it was also bidding for GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK.L) Indian Horlicks nutrition business.
“We are still on track to complete the acquisition (of Chi Ltd) by the end of the first quarter of 2019,” Peter Njonjo, president of Coca-Cola’s West Africa business, had said.
Coca-Cola bought a 40 percent stake in the Nigerian juice and snack producer in January 2016, and said at the time it aimed to increase ownership within three years.
Juice sales form a central plank of the U.S. company’s attempt to offer drinks at a range of price points in Nigeria to improve affordability in a country where Njonjo sees high inflation and modest economic growth in the coming year.
Focusing on smaller bottles and cans is another way the company is trying to woo cash-strapped consumers in Nigeria, which emerged from its first recession in 25 years in 2017 but continues to suffer from sluggish growth and high inflation.
“Affordability will start becoming a bigger issue in this market than it was in the past. As a company, that is what we need to factor in as we are thinking about the future of our business in Nigeria,” Njonjo said in an interview.
Njonjo said the company’s drive to diversify its product range could also give it more flexibility in a market where unemployment is high and the United Nations estimates most of the population of 190 million lives on less than $2 a day.
The Coca-Cola Company is an American corporation, and manufacturer, retailer, and marketer of nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups.
The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Coca-Cola formula and brand were fully bought with US$2,300 in 1889 by Asa Griggs Candler, who incorporated The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta in 1892.
The Coca-Cola brand came into Nigeria when the Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd (NBC) was incorporated in November 1951, as a subsidiary of the A.G. Leventis Group with the franchise to bottle and sell products of The Coca‑Cola Company in the country.
RECOMMENDED ARTICLES
Comment
No comments found.