Turkish CCI completes acquisition of Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages

Turkish beverage company Coca-Cola Icecek (CCI) said it has completed deal to acquire Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages Ltd (CCBB) for $130 million.

The deal was finalised yesterday following the registration of the share transfer by the relevant Bangladeshi authorities, the CCI said in a press release posted on its website.

"The equity value will be subject to adjustments on the pre-agreed enterprise value based on closing audit findings," it said, adding that CCI now, directly and indirectly, owns a 100 percent stake in CCBB after the completion of the deal.

The Istanbul-based Coke products bottler completed the acquisition five days after it--together with wholly owned subsidiary CCI International Holland B.V. and a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company -- announced share purchase agreement to fully acquire Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages Ltd.

The Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages Ltd was established by International Beverages Private Ltd (IBPL), Bangladesh, a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, in 2017, in Bhaluka of Mymensingh, for bottling and distribution of Coke products in certain parts of Bangladesh.

Local firm Abdul Monem Ltd is another bottler of Coca-Cola beverages in Bangladesh, where the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink market registered a 10 percent compound annual growth rate in three years to 2022.

Bangladesh's soft drink market, which is estimated to Tk 4,000 crore-Tk 6,000 crore, is catered by two US-based soft drink makers Coca-Cola and Pepsico, along with several local beverage makers such as Pran, Akij, and Partex.

According to CCI, the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink market in Bangladesh is expected to register a 12 percent annual average growth in the decade to 2032.

CCI manufactures, distributes, and sells brands of Coca-Cola and has operations in 11 Muslim-majority countries, namely Azerbaijan, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

CCBB serves about 10 crore consumers in the Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, and Dhaka regions.

With over 300 employees, one bottling plant, and three main warehouses, CCBB has around 3 lakh points of sale and partners with close to 500 distributors, said CCI earlier

Soft drinks account for most of CCBB's total sales, while the remainder of its product portfolio consists of the water category.

In the past five years, the Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages has continuously strengthened its competitive position in Bangladesh to become the market leader in the soft drinks category with a 45.3 percent share as of 2023, according to CCI.