Brussels, 27 October 2009 - The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition by PepsiCo, Inc. of one of its bottlers, The Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) , both of the US.
After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.
PBG is a bottler for carbonated soft drinks and other ready to drink beverages. It currently conducts business in the US, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Russia, Greece and Turkey. PepsiCo is a global beverage, snack and food company, based in the US and active worldwide.
T he parties' activities only overlap on the market for beverages in Greece, where the proposed transaction would not lead to a significant increase of market shares. The transaction would mainly lead to the vertical integration of the brand owner and its bottler. As before the transaction, PBG was already bottling, selling and distributing PepsiCo beverages and in most countries, PepsiCo was PBG's exclusive client, the proposed transaction would not significantly change the market structure. Consequently, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns.