Pepsi to Buy Russian Juice Leader for Expansion

PepsiCo and The Pepsi Bottling Group agree to jointly acquire a 75.53 percent stake in Russia's leading branded juice company, JSC Lebedyansky, excluding the company's baby food and mineral water business, for $ 1.4 billion. Lebedyansky is the world's sixth-largest juice manufacturer and the largest in Russia, according to market shares, with an estimated 30 percent in Russia, and annual revenues in 2007 of approximately $800 million from its juice business. "This agreement provides us with a strong platform for continued expansion in one of the world's fastest growing juice markets and advances the global transformation of PepsiCo's product portfolio," says Michael White, PepsiCo International CEO and PepsiCo vice chairman of PepsiCo. "Combining Lebedyansky's strengths with those, one of the world's largest makers and sellers of branded juice, and The Pepsi Bottling Group, our largest bottler, will create vast opportunities. We are committed to investing in Lebedyansky's brands and building an even brighter future for this great Russian company."