PepsiCo to acquire majority stake in Russia’s Wimm-Bill-Dann for $5.4-billion

The world's second-largest snacks and non-alcoholic beverages maker PepsiCo, today said that it has agreed to buy a majority stake in Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods, the Russian dairy, food and juice company, for $3.8 billion.

The price being paid by PepsiCo to the selling shareholders – $33.00 per ADR share (which is equivalent to $132.00 per ordinary Russian share) – represents a premium of 32 per cent to the 30-day average trading price of Wimm-Bill-Dann's ADR shares.

The acquisition will catapult the New York-based beverage giant to Russia's biggest food and beverage company and enable it to move closer to its strategic goal of building a $30-billion nutrition business by 2020.

This deal is also one of the largest overseas investment made in recent times in Russia's non-energy sector.

PepsiCo said it would buy 66 per cent of Wimm-Bill-Dann for $3.8 billion and then acquire the remaining shares following completion of the acquisition, taking the total deal value to $5.4 billion.

But just four months back, French foods major Groupe Danone had valued Wimm-Bill-Dann at a $2.5 billion, when it sold its entire 18.4-per cent stake for $470 million in August 2010. (See: Wimm-Bill-Dann buys back stake from Danone for $470 million)