In One Fell Swoop: CCE Buying Six Bottlers

From Beverage Digest 10/23/98

In One Fell Swoop: CCE Buying Six Bottlers.
Deals Total $770 Mil. Include #10 bottler Coke Cameron.

Coca-Cola Enterprises makes yet another major consolidation move. Agrees to buy six Coke bottlers, including #10 bottler Coke Cameron. Price totals $770 mil; paid 85% in stock, 15% debt/assumed debt. CCE now handles 68% of Coke's US bottle/can volume. If deals close, BD estimates CCE handles about 69.5%.

Top-10 Coca-Cola Bottlers

% Coke
Bottler	Vol.
CCE (E 44%)	68.0
Coke Consolidated (E 30%)	7.4
Coke Chicago Herb	6.4
Coke United	2.8
Coke Phila. Llewellyn (E 32%)	1.7
Coke Swire	1.3
Coke Northern New England	1.3
Coke Great Plains Browne	1.0
Coke Abarta	0.8
Coke Cameron	0.8
Total	91.5

One bottler. Last November, CCE executive vp/CFO John Alm notes: "Over time, there's going to be one Coke bottler in the US, and I think we're going to be it" (BD 11/21/97).

Deal. Acquisitions mean CCE handles most of Texas and Ohio. CCE says bottlers' revenues total $365 mil, volume 80 mil 8-oz cases. BD estimates physical cases at 46 mil. Price equates to about $16.85 per physical case.

Bottlers. CCE buys: 1) Coke Cameron, Washington PA. Territories: parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania (including Pittsburgh), West Virginia. Bottler operated by Cameron family for 109 years. 2) Coke Wolslager El Paso Texas. Territories: Tucson Arizona, El Paso/San Angelo Texas and Las Cruces New Mexico. 3) Coke Montgomery Alabama. Territory: central/southern Alabama. 4) Coke Nacogdoches Texas Ashcroft. 5) Coke Sulphur Springs Texas Ashcroft. 6) Coke Bryan Texas.

CCE's Share of US Coke Volume

Oct. 1998	69.5%*
Aug. 1998	68.0%
1997	65.5%
1996	59.6%
1995	57.4%
1994	55.1%
1993	55.1%
1992	54.2%
1991	54.2%
1990	42.5%
1989	43.4%
1988	43.5%
*BD estimate

Size. BD estimates bottlers' volume: 1) Cameron at about 29 mil cases. 2) Coke Wolslager 20 mil. 3) Coke Montgomery at 20 mil cases each. 4) Coke Nacogdoches/Sulphur Springs combined at 7 mil cases. 5) Coke Bryan 2 mil.

Cross-franchise brands. All bottlers carry Dr Pepper in all or part of respective territories; Coke Cameron handles Dr Pepper in metro Pittsburgh. 7UP. Coke Ashcroft and Coke Bryan among last few Coke bottlers handling 7UP.

Previous CCE deals. CCE earlier this year acquired: 1) Coke Southwest Hoffman (BD 4/24/98). #5 Coke bottler handled 2.4% of Coke's US bottle/can volume. Price $1.1 bil; volume 86 mil cases. Operated in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas. 2) Coke Great Plains Keenan (BD 6/12/98), North Platte Nebraska. Estimated volume 5 mil cases; price $17-$18 per case. 3) Coke Bellingham Washington. 4) Coke Ely Nevada. 5) Coke Soo Bottling, Kincheloe Michigan; deal pends.

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