San Miguel still undecided on future of bottler
said on Friday that it has not yet reached a deal deciding the
future ownership of its bottling joint venture with Coca-Cola.
San Miguel released the statement on the Philippine Stock Exchange in response to a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer citing unnamed industry sources as saying the company had agreed to sell its entire 65 per cent stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines (CCBPI). The sale price was an estimated $700 million and an agreement would be signed next month, said the report. But in its statement San Miguel said: "As previously disclosed, San Miguel Corp. and the Coca-Cola Co. are still in discussions on the ownership of CCBPI which include negotiations over the Coca-Cola Co. taking at least a majority stake in, and management and operational control of, CCBPI. Discussions are ongoing and no definite agreements have been reached." Coca-Cola confirmed to AP-Foodtechnology.com that it is still working out the details of the deal with the Philippines-based company. CCBPI has seen sales volumes fall by 8 per cent during 2005 and a 63 per cent drop in operating income to PHP1.2 billion, impacting both companies' annual results.
