Research and Markets: PepsiAmericas Is Combining Most of Its Caribbean Business (Excluding the Bahamas) With CABCORP with the Deal Expected To Close In the Third Quarter Of 2009

2009-10-29 18:28:01 -

Research and Markets ( www.researchandmarkets.com/research/921968/caribbean_food_and : cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww .. ) has announced the addition of the " Caribbean Food and Drink Report Q4 2009 : cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww .. " report to their offering.

The Caribbean Food and Drink Report provides industry professionals and strategists, corporate analysts, food and drink associations, government departments and regulatory bodies with independent forecasts and competitive

intelligence on the Caribbean's food and drink industry.

The Caribbean soft drinks market is relatively well developed when compared to the local food market. Multinational brands have a strong position but beverages form local producers also continue to hold significant market share. The market has become increasingly difficult in line with the economic downturn, which has resulted in a drop in discretionary spending and tourist numbers. Local producers may also come under further pressure following the news that US-based bottler PepsiAmericas is to establish a joint venture with Central America Beverage Corporation (CABCORP) to serve the Caribbean and Central American soft drinks markets. PepsiAmericas is combining most of its Caribbean business (excluding the Bahamas) with CABCORP and taking an 18% stake in the venture, leaving CABCORP with an 82% ownership interest. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2009.
CABCORP is a Guatemala-based business and bills itself as the 12th largest company in Central America. As Central America's predominant Pepsi bottler it covers four countries - Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. Demand for soft drinks in these countries has increased rapidly over the last five years, in line with increased affluence and between 2003 and 2008 CABCORP's sales increased by 60%, representing a compound annual growth rate of 10%.

Meanwhile, PepsiAmericas is the world's second largest Pepsi bottler and will throw its Caribbean business into the pot. Here the company operates in five countries - Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados and the Bahamas. The Bahamas is currently serviced from the US and given these existing synergies PepsiAmericas has decided not to include the territory in the deal.

The tie-up will boost the negotiating power of the new entity when plotting expansion in the region. Although PepsiAmericas will be the smaller party in this particular venture it is actually much larger and has very strong ties with PepsiCo (and may soon actually be part of PepsiCo if a recently agreed takeover gets approval from US antitrust authorities). CABCORP will see this as an advantage as it looks to expand across the Caribbean region. Here the soft drinks market is still fairly fragmented and CABCORP will be looking to put itself in the best possible position to take advantage of the inevitable consolidation process. The size and strength of the combined operation will dwarf most other soft drink operators in the region and we expect the business to eventually mop up the remaining Pepsi bottlers operating in the Caribbean. In addition, as the business looks to build market share, the joint venture could move to acquire other Caribbean soft drink firms that are not associated with Pepsi but that have developed strong brands in their own right.


Key Topics Covered:

- Executive Summary
- SWOT Analysis
- Macroeconomic Forecasts
- Barbados
- Table: Barbados - Economic Activity, 2006-2013
- Dominican Republic
- Table: Dominican Republic - Economic Activity, 2006-2013
- Jamaica
- Table: Jamaica - Economic Activity, 2006-2013
- Puerto Rico
- Table: Puerto Rico - Economic Activity, 2006-2013
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Table: Trinidad & Tobago - Economic Activity, 2006-2013
- Food
- Drink
- Market Overview
- Industry Forecast Scenario
- Industry Developments
- Competitive Landscape
- Appendix

Companies Mentioned.

- Seprod (Jamaica)
- The Jamaica Drink Company (Wisynco Group) (Jamaica)
- D&G/Red Stripe (Jamaica)
- Wal-Mart (Puerto Rico)
- Supermercados Nacional (Dominican Republic)


For more information visit www.researchandmarkets.com/research/921968/caribbean_food_and : cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww ..



Research and MarketsLaura Wood, Senior Manager, press@researchandmarkets.com : mailto:press@researchandmarkets.com U.S.

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