Having gained the approvals from the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation, PepsiCo expects to close the acquisition on 8 February.
Upon completion of the deal, a PepsiCo subsidiary will take ownership of about 66 per cent of Wimm-Bill-Dann for around $3.8bn. PepsiCo will then look to acquire the remaining shares in the Russian juice and dairy firm to gain full ownership for a total consideration of $5.4bn.
News that the deal has been approved is expected to be announced by PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov during a panel discussion on “Russia’s next steps to Modernisation” at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, in the Swiss Alps.
The transaction will make PepsiCo the largest food and drinks business in Russia – with about twice the revenue of its nearest rival. The deal also increases the annual revenue that PepsiCo gains from nutritious and functional foods from $10bn to $13bn, taking the company a step closer to its target of building a $30bn nutrition business by 2020.