Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) recently said that it intends to jointly acquire Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines with Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) for $1.8 billion (€1.64 billion), in an effort to become the world's largest Coca-Cola bottler by revenue and volumes.
The deal to buy Coca-Cola's Philippines business in cash will be on 60:40 ownership structure between CCEP and Philippines conglomerate Aboitiz.
CCEP has signed a non-binding term sheet and is in advanced discussions with AEV regarding a potential joint transaction, the company said in a statement.
CCEP, which bottles and sells Coca-Cola products in Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, also said that its earlier expectation to return to the top-end of its net debt to adjusted core profit range of 2.5-3 times by the end of 2023 is expected to be achieved in 2024 instead.
Glass Costs Will Rise Further
In February, told Reuters that it expects to hike prices further, and said glass costs would rise by the 'mid-teen to low double digits' this year at a time when it is trying to sell more returnable glass bottles.
Glass shortages have persisted for beverage companies and other manufacturers since the pandemic, with the issue compounded by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"It's quite significant and part of it is also led by the shortages that we had given the unfortunate war breakout between Russia and Ukraine, as we had a lot supply there," said Nik Jhangiani, finance chief of CCEP.
Read More: Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Warns Prices, Glass Costs Will Rise Further
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