MANILA, Philippines – Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) submitted a proposal to acquire Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines (CCBP) at an enterprise value of $1.8 billion (around P99 billion) on a debt-free, cash-free basis. 

In a statement on Wednesday, August 2, the two companies said the non-binding letter of intent was given to The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC). This arrangement means that the main terms and conditions have been presented, but parties can still walk away from the deal.

The debt-free, cash-free basis of the transaction means that AEV and CCEP would not assume any of the debts on TCCC’s balance sheet, or get to keep any leftover cash.

Should the deal push through, a 60-40 ownership structure between AEV and CCEP would be implemented. The buyout also means that TCCC would be fully divesting from its bottling operations in the Philippines.

The potential transaction is expected to close around the end of 2023, subject to regulatory approvals, including clearance from the Philippine Competition Commission.

“If completed, the proposed acquisition would build on AEV’s portfolio diversification strategy to enter the branded consumer goods space and on CCEP’s successful expansion into the Asia-Pacific region via its acquisition of Coca-Cola Amatil in 2021. AEV would be well-positioned to support CCBP’s growth ambition given the synergies that can be generated from AEV’s other businesses,” AEV said.

Coca-Cola currently has 73 production lines and 19 plants across the Philippines, and services over 1 million outlets. It has over 9,000 employees.

Aside from making soft drinks, Coca-Cola is also the company behind products like Lemon-Dou, Minute Maid, Nutri Boost, Powerade, and Wilkins.

AEV is one of the leading conglomerates in the Philippines with interests in power, banking and financial services, food, infrastructure, land, and data science and artificial intelligence. 

CCEP is one of the leading consumer goods companies in the world, serving 600 million consumers and catering to 1.75 million businesses across 29 countries. It is listed on Euronext Amsterdam, the Nasdaq, Global Select Market, London Stock Exchange, and the Spanish Stock Exchanges.

Shares of AEV fell sharply by 4.5% on Wednesday. – Rappler.com

$1 = P55.14