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PepsiCo offers to buy 2 bottlers for $6 billion

PepsiCo Inc.  offered to acquire its two largest bottlers — Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas — for $6 billion in an effort to cut costs and become more efficient.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Beverage and snack maker PepsiCo Inc. on Monday offered to acquire its two largest bottlers — Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas — for $6 billion in an effort to cut costs and become more efficient.

The announcement comes as the company that makes drinks like Mountain Dew, Aquafina water and Gatorade and snacks like Lay's and Fritos chips reported a 1 percent decline in its first-quarter profit on a similar decline in sales.

PepsiCo, based in Purchase, N.Y., offered cash and stock worth 17 percent more than each stock's closing price on Friday for the shares of the two bottlers it doesn't already own. That equates to $29.50 per for share for the Pepsi Bottling Group and $23.27 per share for PepsiAmericas.

PepsiCo currently owns 33 percent of Pepsi Bottling group and 43 percent of PepsiAmericas.

If the deals go through, PepsiCo would handle about 80 percent of its total North American beverage volume.

"We could unlock significant cost synergies, improve the speed of decision making and increase our strategic flexibility," with the consolidation, PepsiCo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi said in a statement.

PepsiCo expects the deal to help earnings by 15 cents per share, and save $200 million pre-tax.

The company is offering $14.75 in cash plus 0.283 shares of PepsiCo stock for each share of Pepsi Bottling Group and $11.64 in cash plus 0.223 share of PepsiCo common stock for each share of PepsiCo Americas. Both bottlers are evaluating the offer.

Separately, PepsiCo said its profit fell 1 percent to $1.14 billion, or 72 cents per share, for the quarter ended March 21 from $1.15 billion, or 70 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected a profit of 67 cents per share.

Revenue slipped almost 1 percent to $8.26 billion from $8.33 billion last year. Analysts expected sales of $8.28 billion. Excluding the stronger dollar's adverse affect on international results, net revenue grew 6 percent, the company said.

Net revenue at Frito-Lay North America rose 10 percent during the quarter as volume edged down less than one percent. The snack division recently began to add 20 percent more product into its take-home size bags of Doritos, Cheetos and other products without raising the price.

PepsiCo Americas Beverages revenue fell 12 percent, as volume of carbonated soft drinks fell in the mid-single digit percentage range and sports drinks volume fell in the double-digit percentage range.

The company said it still expects earnings and revenue in 2009 to grow in the mid- to high-single digit range, excluding the stronger dollar.