PepsiCo, Pepsi Bottling buy 75 per cent in Russian juice leader JSC Lebedyansky for $1.4 billion

Michael D. White, chief executive officer, PepsiCo International and vice chairman, PepsiCo Mumbai: PepsiCo and The Pepsi Bottling Group have jointly acquired a 75.53 per cent stake in Russia's leading branded juice company JSC Lebedyansky for about $1.4 billion.

The acquisition does not include the company's baby food and mineral water businesses, which earlier were spun off to shareholders in a separate transaction.

The transaction puts Lebedyansky's total enterprise value, including debt and spin-off related adjustments, and excluding the company's baby food and mineral water business, at approximately $2 billion.

PepsiCo and PBG will also make a mandatory offer for the remaining shares of Lebedyansky, in accordance with Russian law, in the near future.

Lebedyansky is the world's sixth-largest juice manufacturer and the largest in Russia, with an estimated market share in Russia of around 30 per cent and annual revenues in 2007 of approximately $800 million from its juice business.

''We're looking forward to building Lebedyansky's portfolio of strong, popular brands in one of the world's fastest-growing juice markets,'' said Michael White, PepsiCo International CEO and vice chairman of PepsiCo. ''It's yet another way we're transforming our product lineup to include more beverages and foods that address the growing consumer interest in health and wellness,'' he added.