Coca-Cola European Partners bids for Coca-Cola Amatil
If agreed, the deal would create a stronger force in global beverages better able to respond to and weather the continued effects of the pandemic and the impact of Brexit in Europe.
Damian Gammell, chief executive of CCEP, said: "Today [25 October], we are very excited to announce a non-binding proposal to acquire Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCL), one of the largest bottlers and distributors of ready to drink beverages and coffee in the Asia Pacific region.
"This is a unique and tremendous opportunity to combine two of the world's best bottlers, creating a broader and more balanced geographic footprint, including one of the most attractive and populous emerging markets, doubling our consumer reach to 600m.
'Scale up even faster'
"This larger platform would enable us to scale up even faster than before and solidify our position as the largest Coca-Cola bottler by revenue, further strengthening our strategic partnership with The Coca-Cola Company."
Providing an update on its performance in its third financial quarter (Q3) ending 25 September, CCEP recorded unaudited revenue of €612m in Great Britain, 2% down on the same period last year. Overall value sales in the period reached €3.18bn, down 3% on Q3 2019.
Gammell said: "We continue to demonstrate the resilience of our business and our ability to operate with agility in such a rapidly changing environment. I am proud of how our colleagues have continued to support our customers, consumers and communities.
Summer performance encouraging
"Our performance over the summer months was encouraging. Volumes significantly improved compared to the second-quarter of the year, mirroring outlet re-openings in the away from home channel, solid demand in the home channel, where we continued to take share, as well as favourable weather across most markets. While the reintroduction of restrictions and local lockdowns has resulted in continued uncertainty about the duration and impact of the pandemic, we continue to believe that the second quarter will be the most impacted.
"In the meantime, the meaningful actions that we talked to earlier in the year continue to protect our performance and we remain confident that we will emerge from this crisis as a stronger business. We continue to adapt to changes in consumer behaviour by focusing on the core brands that our consumers love, leveraging and advancing our digital capabilities, and concentrating even more on the home channel, particularly in the run up to the key Christmas trading period."
