Coca-Cola Acquires 40% Stake in Chivita

The Coca-Cola Company is now a shareholder of the holding company of Chi Limited, Tropical General Investments Group.

Both companies, in a statement on Saturday, said a binding agreement had been concluded for the Coca-Cola Company to acquire an initial minority equity shareholding in Chi Ltd.

In the statement by Chief Public Affairs and Communications Officer, The Coca-Cola Company, Dan Baxter, and Head of Performance Management Group, TGI Group of Companies, Dr. Johannes Flosbach, both companies said the agreement creates a strategic relationship within Africa’s largest economy that together serve Nigeria’s most popular sparkling soft drinks, juices, value-added dairy and water beverage brands.

The Coca-Cola Company was said to have made an initial 40 per cent equity investment in Chi Ltd and expressed the intention to increase ownership to 100 per cent within three years, subject to regulatory approvals, while working on other long-term commercial structures.

Additionally, the parties reportedly agreed to jointly discuss and explore other opportunities in the region to further develop this relationship.

The statement further read, “The investment in Nigeria’s leading value-added dairy and juice beverage brands – which include Hollandia and Chivita — further expands The Coca-Cola Company’s West African portfolio of still beverages while establishing Coca-Cola’s presence in Africa’s high-growth value-added dairy category.

“The agreement will allow both companies to leverage their respective investments and expertise to further drive innovation, optimise efficiency and strengthen route-to-market to accelerate growth and increase consumer availability and choice.”

TGI Group’s relationship with The Coca-Cola Company, according to the statement, will also help Chi Ltd achieve its ambitious growth plans through access to Coca-Cola’s broad product portfolio and integration into global best practices in production, distribution and brand-building.

President, Coca-Cola, Eurasia and Africa, Nathan Kalumbu, was quoted as saying, “For more than 30 years Chi’s leadership has built a greatly admired business that has quickly grown to become Nigeria’s leading producer and distributor of value-added dairy and juice products and we are delighted to enter the next phase of our growth journey together.”

Similarly, Chairman of TGI Group and Chi Ltd., Cornelis Vink, reportedly said, “Coca-Cola and Chi share the same commitment to Africa, to investing in our operations and to continuous innovation, and our relationship will allow us to continue to provide Nigerian consumers the No. 1 beverage in each of the categories we serve.”