Clairfield advises on the sale of The Beverage Company to Varun Beverages

The Beverage Company is comprised of the operating companies SoftBev and Little Green Beverages. Its portfolio consists of the recognisable brands Jive, Coo-ee, and Reboost.

The Beverage Company is also the sub-Saharan Africa bottler for PepsiCo’s beverage portfolio and provides comprehensive contract bottling solutions to PepsiCo’s various brands.

Varun Beverages is a CSD producer and the largest global PepsiCo bottler outside the USA and China. It is listed on the Indian Stock Exchange and has a market capitalisation of approximately US$21 billion. The acquisition of The Beverage Company enables Varun Beverages to grow its African presence significantly and complement its existing operations in three other sub-Saharan countries.

The ZAR 3 billion (US$158 million) transaction represents a unique and attractive opportunity for VBL to acquire a leading diversified beverage business with strong brands and a wide distribution reach that is ideally placed to expand across sub-Saharan Africa. For The Rohatyn Group and Nedbank Private Equity, it represents an opportunity to return capital to their investors at an attractive price point.

Rand Merchant Bank, a partner of Clairfield in South Africa, acted as the sole financial advisor to The Beverage Company and selling shareholders in an important Indo-Africa corridor transaction. The transaction showcases Rand Merchant Bank’s continued sellside market leadership, beverage sector expertise, ability to manage complex crossborder transactions, and access to multinational buyers interested in South Africa and Africa, which ultimately resulted in a transaction with Varun Beverages. Furthermore, Rand Merchant Bank refinanced ZAR 800 million of existing debt with The Beverage Company and provided an incremental ZAR 500 million of acquisition finance to Varun Beverages.