Asia Bizz: PepsiCo To Acquire Wimm-Bill-Dann For More Than $5 Billion
American soft-drink giant, PepsiCo is all set to acquire the Russian dairy products and fruit juice maker, Wimm-Bill-Dann, for a mind staggering $5 billion. This deal will be known to be the one of the biggest deals in Russia outside its energy sector, and this will also increase the presence of an American company in Russia.
The company will be acquiring 66% of its stakes worth $3.8 billion and then later it will offer the rest of the company’s ownership in shares. According to Pepsi, it has said that the deal will be making the company step into the functional food sector from the nutritional food sector which it is currently today. It would also raise the company’s holdings from $10 billion to $13billion in the market.
Wimm-Bill-Dann is a company that is manufacturing dairy foods and is one of the top companies in Russia, as it is competing with companies like Unimilk controlled Danone SA which the worlds no.1 baby food maker. US will be looking to increase its presence in the Russian market as it is one of the largest markets in the world and also the most prosperous.
Source: WSJ
