Coca-Cola Dismiss idea to Refranchise Africa Bottling Unit

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Coca-Cola Co stated it has quite the idea to refranchise its Africa bottling business, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) and would rather keep its majority stake in the unit for the time doing.

Coca-Cola said in a declaration it had discussions with a number of potential partners over the issue.

Coca-Cola HBC and rival Coca-Cola European Partners were seen as potential buyers for the unit.

“While we remain committed to the refranchising process, we believe it’s in the best interests of all involved for Coca-Cola to continue to hold and operate CCBA,” Coca-Cola said.

The U.S. beverage behemoth had wanted to refranchise the unit as part of its global strategy to divest its manufacturing and distribution assets to concentrate on the main beverage business and increase boundaries.

Shares of Coca-Cola HBC were down 7.4 per cent in Monday trading, as a report stated.

Coke in 2016 bought a majority stake in CCBA, the continent’s highest soft drink bottler, with operations in a dozen markets including South Africa, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, from Anheuser-Busch InBev SA.

The company announced it would reclassify its financial reports from the second quarter in 2019 to include CCBA as one of its ongoing operations.