Mexico City, Mexico Oct. 10 - On September 26, 2007, the National Banking and Securities Commission (“Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores”) authorized Administración, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (“Administración”), a Mexican company owned directly or indirectly in equal proportion by Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Coca Cola FEMSA") and the Coca-Cola Company, to launch a Tender Public Offering (“Tender Public Offering”) to buy 100% of the shares representative of the capital stock of the company Jugos del Valle, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Jugos del Valle").
Today, Administración launched the mentioned Tender Public Offering to buy the shares for an approximate amount of US$370 million in cash, equivalent to a price of US$6.34 per share and assuming liabilities for approximately US$86 million.
This transaction increases the presence of The Coca-Cola Company and Coca-Cola FEMSA, in the fast growing non-carbonated beverage segment in Latin America.
Once the Tender Public Offering to buy the shares is completed, and as soon as possible, both companies will invite the rest of the bottlers of The Coca-Cola Company branded products in Mexico and Brazil, respectively, to participate in the joint-venture. Jugos del Valle is the second largest producer of juice, nectars and juice based products in Mexico, the largest in Brazil and with presence in other American markets.
This transaction has been approved by the Mexican regulatory authorities.
Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V. produces and distributes
Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Lift and other trademark beverages of The Coca-Cola Company in Mexico (a substantial part of central Mexico, including Mexico City and southeast Mexico), Guatemala (Guatemala City and surrounding areas), Nicaragua (nationwide), Costa Rica (nationwide), Panama (nationwide), Colombia (most of the country), Venezuela (nationwide), Brazil (greater São Paulo, Campiñas, Santos, the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and part of the state of Goias) and Argentina (federal capital of Buenos Aires and surrounding areas), along with bottled water, beer and other beverages in some of these territories. The Company has 31 bottling facilities in Latin America and serves over 1,500,000 retailers in the region. The Coca-Cola Company owns a 31.6% equity interest in Coca-Cola FEMSA.