Image used for illustrative purpose. A view of Coca-Cola bottles at the opening ceremony of a Coca-Cola factory outside of Yangon June 4, 2013. Soe Zeya Tun Coca-Cola Co, based in Atlanta, US, could quaff €7bn ($8.1bn) when it lists its African bottling operations with an initial public offering. It owns 66.5% of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA), after it bought out Anheuser-Busch InBev’s share for $3.15bn in 2016. The other shareholder in CCBA is South Africa’s Gutsche Family Investments, led by Philipp Gutsche.
In April 2021, Coca- Cola announced plans to list CCBA shares within 18 months, with a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam and a secondary listing in Johannesburg.
CCBA has 20,000 employees and operates in 14 countries, making up 40% of the volume of Coca-Cola products sold in Africa. Its headquarters will stay in South Africa. It said Rothschild & Co would advise.
Bruno Pietracci, president of the Africa operating unit, said: “The Coca-Cola Company sees Africa as a key growth market and views a separate listing of CCBA as an opportunity to deliver a broad, supportive, long-term investor base for the ongoing development of the business.”
In January 2022 Coca- Cola held a virtual capital markets day to highlight progress and the growth opportunity to potential investors. It has a strong record of profitable growth in hard currency and feels there are good reasons for optimism about future growth.
The company said:
“Over recent years, CCBA outperformed all the listed Coca-Cola bottlers by volume growth, outside of the Covid-19-impacted 2020, and believes it can continue this outperformance.”
Coca-Cola’s sparkling soft-drink brands include Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta; hydration, sports, coffee and tea brands include Powerade and Costa; and nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverage brands including Minute Maid, Simply, Innocent and Del Valle.
Reports said the IPO advisers would include Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley and Standard Bank Group.
A big year for Nigeria’s bourse
Expect more innovation and a faster rollout of technology to enhance trading and market experience in 2022, says Temi Popoola, CEO of Nigerian Exchange Ltd (NGX).At a presentation in February, he foresaw strategic business reorganisation for the bourse, which is part ofthe NGX Group, including expansion to reach individual shareholders and digital transformation to bring more people into the capital market.2021 saw transformation and achievement, including the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s successful demutualisation in March 2021. Nigerian Exchange Group Plc (NGX Group) is the holding company and has three operating subsidiaries: Nigerian […]