The Federal Trade Commission sure is paying close attention to beverage giant PepsiCo Inc.'s (NYSE:PEP) bottlers acquisition. This is the second time Pepsi had to
withdraw paperwork related to its buyout of its two biggest bottlers, Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (NYSE:PBG) and PepsiAmericas Inc. (NYSE:PAS), for $7.8 billion.
Pepsi said the withdrawal will provide the FTC with more time to review the information submitted without requiring a Request for Additional Information. Pepsi originally filed its notification and report forms on Sept. 11 and refiled them on Oct. 15.
Purchase, N.Y.'s Pepsi still expects the transactions to close by late 2009 or early 2010 and has
set its integration plan in place. It already picked Eric Foss, chairman and CEO of PBG, to head the new bottling group -- PepsiCo Bottling North America, or PBNA. Pepsi also created a board to oversee integration of the bottlers, including Foss; Pepsi chair and CEO Indra Nooyi; Robert Pohlad, chairman and CEO of PepsiAmericas; and Craig Weatherup, the founding chairman and CEO of Pepsi Bottling Group who retired in 2003.
If the FTC ever gets done reviewing, and of course approves the deal, we can see if Pepsi's plan is a good one. ConsumerEdge Research LLC analyst Bill Pecoriello recently noted that, beyond the integration, it will be key for Pepsi to demonstrate the competitive advantage of its newly integrated system -- for example, route to market changes, revenue synergies with Frito, leverage with retailers and new sales/operating models.
In other Pepsi news, the Economic Times reports that the company held a global board meeting in Mumbai. Signifying India's importance, that's only its second such meeting Pepsi has held outside the U.S. -
Baz Hiralal
Join Corporate Dealmaker's LinkedIn forum
Adele Gulfo
And the winners are...
