Swire Coca-Cola reached an exciting milestone in July after entering a definitive agreement to acquire Coca-Cola subsidiaries with bottling businesses in Vietnam and Cambodia. The transactions are valued at US$1.015 million and represent Swire Coca-Cola's first investments in South East Asia, giving us a leading position in one of the world's fastest growing beverage markets.
Upon completion of the acquisition, Swire Coca-Cola will own and operate Coca-Cola Beverages Vietnam Ltd., which has three bottling facilities in Vietnam, and Cambodia Beverage Company Ltd., which has one bottling facility in Cambodia. Swire Coca-Cola's franchise population will expand by 15% to 876 million people.
"This acquisition marks a major milestone for Swire Coca-Cola, significantly expanding our operating footprint and population served to a new region," said Patrick Healy, Chairman of Swire Coca-Cola. "We have been investing in building a world-class bottling system over the past 57 years. This expansion of territories is part of a broader strategy to expand the global scale, volume and revenues of our bottling business."
The bottlers are currently the number one sparkling beverage players in Vietnam and Cambodia. With young demographics, robust urbanisation trends, and pre-pandemic GDP growth of over 7% per year, Vietnam and Cambodia open up significant opportunities for Swire Coca-Cola.
"As a long-term strategic partner with Coca-Cola, we are delighted to be expanding our relationship through this acquisition and excited by the enormous growth potential of the non-alcoholic beverage markets in Vietnam and Cambodia," said Karen So, Managing Director of Swire Coca-Cola. "With our successful refranchising experience in the USA and Chinese Mainland between 2014 and 2017, I am confident that our continuous commitment to excellence will help capture the opportunities that these dynamic markets will bring. We look forward to the next exciting chapter in our history as we make our first foray into South East Asia."
