New York/ Hong Kong, April 27 - Coca-Cola Co , whose planned purchase of China Huiyuan Juice was blocked by the Chinese government in March, is not in talks to explore other partnership options with Huiyuan, a source familiar with the situation said.
Shares of Huiyuan, China's top juice maker, jumped 25 percent to a five-week high earlier on Friday, on reports that the companies were back in talks after Coke's failed $2.4 billion bid to engineer the largest-ever foreign takeover of a Chinese company.
Huiyuan acknowledged the press reports suggesting the two were back in discussions on Friday.
"The company is unaware of the source of such information and would like to confirm that it is not in possession of any price-sensitive information which would require an announcement" under Hong Kong securities regulations, Huiyuan said in a statement.
Coca-Cola, the world's largest soft drink maker, said it has a policy of not commenting on speculation.
A source familiar with the situation said on Friday that no talks were taking place.
Citing another source, Reuters reported on Thursday that talks had taken place in Beijing between the two companies. The Wall Street Journal, also citing unidentified sources, had said informal negotiations could include Coke taking a minority stake in Huiyuan.
Shares in Hong Kong-listed Huiyuan hit a high of HK$6.3 Friday morning before closing at HK$5.73, up 13.4 percent. Coke fell 14 cents to $42.78 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Huiyuan's shares have lost nearly 50 percent of their value in the past three months, after the failed takeover bid and plummeting valuations, making a second possible deal much cheaper for Coke.
The all-cash deal Coke proposed in September offered a hefty premium of HK$12.20 for the juice maker -- 43 times Huiyuan's forecast 2008 earnings at the time.
Some Coke investors said they were not totally disappointed when the deal collapsed because of the price tag.
China said the deal would have been bad for competition, in what was the biggest test yet of how Chinese officials would implement a tough anti-monopoly law enacted last year.
But now, minority stakes in assets may alleviate China's antitrust fears and pave the way for future tie-ups. France's Groupe Danone SA already owns more than a fifth of Huiyuan.
Huiyuan controls more than a tenth of the Chinese fruit and vegetable juice market, which grew 15 percent last year to $2 billion. Coca-Cola has a 9.7 percent market share and dominates in diluted juices.
"Coke has different options, one of them would be taking over Danone's stake, but Huiyuan can't expect premium valuations anymore. It's unlikely to fetch the HK$12.2 per share it did last time around," said Tai.