Coca-Cola Co. will pay $3.15 billion to buy Anheuser-Busch InBev NV out of an African bottling joint venture after the Budweiser brewer’s takeover of the U.S. beverage company’s partner in the region.

Wednesday’s announcement comes just over two months after the companies said they were in negotiations following AB InBev’s completion of the takeover of SABMiller. Coca-Cola also agreed to buy AB InBev’s interest in bottling operations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, El Salvador and Honduras for an undisclosed sum.

For Coca-Cola, the acquisition of AB InBev’s 54.5 percent stake in the venture provides a firm footing in a region that is probably one of the last where it can grow its core soft drinks products, said Sasha Naryshkine, an analyst at Johannesburg-based money manager Vestact Ltd.

Source: africanbusinesscentral.com