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Coke Retains Stake In Coca-Cola Beverages Africa

ATLANTA -- Coca-Cola Co. said it will maintain its majority stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) for the foreseeable future. Coca-Cola previously announced its intention to refranchise CCBA, which is the largest bottler of Coca-Cola beverages in Africa, serving 12 countries. The beverage giant said it has had discussions with a number of potential partners. “Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is a very important part of the Coca-Cola system, and we see great opportunities to create even more value,” said C...

May 20, 2019 by Emily Jed

ATLANTA -- Coca-Cola Co. said it will maintain its majority stake in Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) for the foreseeable future.

Coca-Cola previously announced its intention to refranchise CCBA, which is the largest bottler of Coca-Cola beverages in Africa, serving 12 countries. The beverage giant said it has had discussions with a number of potential partners.

"Coca-Cola Beverages Africa is a very important part of the Coca-Cola system, and we see great opportunities to create even more value," said Coca-Cola president and chief operating officer Brian Smith. "While we remain committed to the refranchising process, we believe it's in the best interests of all involved for Coca-Cola to continue to hold and operate CCBA."

CCBA was formed in 2016 through the combination of the African nonalcoholic ready-to-drink bottling interests of SABMiller plc, Coca-Cola Co. and Gutsche Family Investments. AB InBev later acquired SABMiller and reached an agreement to transition AB InBev's 54.5% equity stake in CCBA to Coca-Cola. That 2017 transaction made Coca-Cola the controlling shareowner of CCBA.