Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) has today given formal approval to a deal with the Coca-Cola Company to sell back its North American bottling operations.
Since the formation of CCE in 1986, the North American bottling operations and the soft drinks business have been separate entities.
In what the companies describe as a “substantially cashless transaction”, Coca-Cola Company will acquire the North American bottling operations of Coca-Cola Enterprises, and will give up its 34 percent equity ownership in CCE, worth about $5.3 billion as of September 30, 2010. The company will also assume about $9.5 billion of Coca-Cola Enterprises’ debt and other liabilities.
Coca-Cola Company will own 90 percent of its North American bottling operations after the deal closes.
As part of the same deal, Coca-Cola Enterprises will take over Coca-Cola Company’s bottling operations in Norway and Sweden for $822 million. It will also have the option to buy an 83 percent stake in Coca-Cola Company’s German bottling operations within 18 to 36 months after the deal closes.
Many of CCE’s current US employees will move over to Coca-Cola, and although its headquarters will remain in Atlanta with a staff of about 140 people, “New CCE” will in effect become a Western European operation. CCE is already the sole licensed bottler for Coca-Cola products in Belgium, France, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands.
Shareholder approval, given today in a ten minute special meeting, represents the final step in completing the transaction, which has received all necessary government clearances. New CCE shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, October 4, under the CCE stock symbol.
