Ukraine acquisition steps up PepsiCo regional focus
European soft drinks market by acquiring an 80 per cent stake in
one of Ukraine's leading juice producers.
Through the $542m (€406m) purchase of the Sandora company, Pepsi will claim a dominant role within the country's burgeoning market for fruit juice. Over the last year, PepsiCo has actively strengthened its hold within Eastern Europe to tap the strong potential for growth in the region for both its beverage and snack brands. PepsiAmericas chairman Robert C Pohlad said the move was an important step in maintaining this aim. "[the acquisition] provides immediate scale in a high growth market and a strong business platform to leverage and expand into other categories," he stated. "Ukraine's emerging economy and beverage market, coupled with Sandora's strong brands and distribution capabilities, provide significant growth potential." The purchase will grant the company control of Sanodra's two productions plants situated in Nikolaev, along with its sales and distribution capabilities. It will be run initially by PepsiAmericas, with PepsiCo taking charge of wider brand development within the country. The group added that it hoped to then acquire the final 20 per cent holding in the group by November of this year. The move comes on the back of similar ventures by in the group in the region this year. In March, PepsiCo teamed up with its Russian bottling arm to form a joint venture to take greater control of all aspects of its operations in the high-growth soft drinks market in the country.
