THREE KENYA`S COCA-COLA BOTTLERS TO MERGE EYING BIGGER MARKET
Posted on
Aug 2, 2012
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A Coca-Cola plant in Kisumu: The firm's three bottling plants -Kisii Bottlers, Mount Kenya Bottlers and Rift Valley Bottlers—are set to merge their operations into one newly created entity named Almasi Beverages Limited.
Three Coca-Cola bottling companies —Kisii Bottlers, Mount Kenya Bottlers and Rift Valley Bottlers—are set to merge their operations seeking to form one entity with a stronger financial muscle.
The three announced Thursday their intention to formally combine the shareholding and governance of all three companies into one newly created entity named Almasi Beverages Limited.
The proposal which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, will allow each of the three companies to better serve their respective territories by bringing together combined resources and take advantage of economies of scale to increase efficiency in production and distribution, as well as optimise capital investment, they said in a statement.
The three bottlers are expected to hold their respective Annual General Meetings (AGMs) in the next one month, and ultimately announce a new board and senior management team to oversee the new consolidated company.
The decision comes barely a month after another one of Coca-Cola’s bottling firms, Nairobi Bottlers, unveiled a new plastic bottling line at a cost of Ksh1.2 billion ($13.9 million) in Nairobi’s Embakasi and plans to set up another plant in Uganda with a capacity of 20,000 bottles per hour in a bid to maintain its grip on the increasingly competitive beverage market.
Also in the pipeline for Nairobi Bottlers is a new line in Kisumu and expansion of its warehouse in Nakuru.
The three bottlers have been in operation since the 1970s under bottling agreements with leading global soft drinks manufacturer The Coca-Cola Company, and each has experienced significant growth since.
The companies supply bottles for distribution of Coca-Cola products in the Central and Western parts of Kenya.
Almasi Beverages Limited will position the companies to better serve the existing market and take advantage of the emerging opportunities in line with the rapidly-changing consumer trends, the firms’ executives said.
The company is expected to continue providing quality products and will strengthen existing market relationships as it drives revenue growth and market penetration across its territories.
It will also build on the existing high quality, for example, by implementing best practices from each of the bottlers across the company.
