PepsiCo to Acquire Russian Dairy and Juice Company

PepsiCo and Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC, Russian branded food-and-beverage company, announces that PepsiCo has agreed to acquire 66 percent of Wimm-Bill-Dann for $3.8 billion, pending the required government approvals. In connection with this acquisition, PepsiCo will offer to acquire the remaining shares of Wimm-Bill-Dann through an offer following completion of that acquisition at such time and on terms as are mandated by Russian law, and PepsiCo may acquire additional shares in other transactions.

 

"Adding Wimm-Bill-Dann to PepsiCo's portfolio is financially attractive and gives us a strong, high-growth platform in the dairy category," says Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman and chief executive officer. "It also gives us clear leadership in the food-and-beverage industry in Russia, a fast-growing, strategically important market offering abundant opportunity. At the same time, Wimm-Bill-Dann's strong, value-added dairy business immediately advances our global nutrition strategy to provide consumers around the world nutritious foods and beverages that are accessible, affordable and advantaged by science. Dairy has a huge, untapped potential to bridge snacks and beverages. We see the emerging opportunity to 'snackify' beverages and 'drinkify' snacks as the next frontier in food and beverage convenience." 

 

Wimm-Bill-Dann is a leader in both traditional and value-added dairy products, with a solid position in juice. The transaction will establish PepsiCo as the largest food-and-beverage business in Russia, make it a leader in the country's fast-growing dairy category and build its presence in key markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It also will raise PepsiCo's annual global revenues from nutritious and functional foods from approximately $10 billion today to nearly $13 billion. This moves the company closer to its strategic goal of building a $30 billion nutrition business by 2020.