"Huiyuan is a long-standing and successful juice brand in China, which complements Coca-Cola's business in China." Mu Taikang, CEO and President of Coca-Cola Company, said, "The juice market in China is booming and growing rapidly. This acquisition will bring value to our shareholders and provide a unique opportunity for Coca-Cola Company to strengthen its business in China. This move further demonstrates our commitment to the China market and provides China consumers with beverage choices to meet their needs. "
If the acquisition is successful, Coca-Cola Company will make use of its international professional advantages as a multinational beverage company to further develop Huiyuan Juice brand to meet the changing needs of consumers in China. The acquisition is expected to improve operational efficiency, especially through the use of Huiyuan's production equipment in China, as well as Coca-Cola's distribution network and raw material purchasing capacity, which will bring about synergy. The success of the proposed acquisition depends on the approval of relevant departments in China. Coca-Cola Company said that the current plan is to maintain Huiyuan's existing business operation mode, and the business and collaboration will be re-evaluated in the future.
It can be predicted that if the acquisition is completed, the juice market in China will face great changes: Coca-Cola will win Huiyuan Juice, the "number one" in this market, with its huge financial strength. In the case that the carbonated beverage market is shrinking and the healthy juice market is growing, Coca-Cola is likely to dominate the juice market in the future without rivals.
Huiyuan brand and production are not affected.
Li Xiaojun, head of public relations for Coca-Cola in China, revealed to the media that the motive of the acquisition was "optimistic about the development potential of China juice drinks". For the overall development of Coca-Cola, the company hopes that non-carbonated beverages will develop well. Huiyuan Juice will enrich the variety of Coca-Cola beverages through Minute Maid orange juice and original leaf tea.
When asked whether the acquisition was suspected of monopolizing the China juice market, Li Xiaojun said, "We don't constitute a monopoly in China". Li Xiaojun said that Huiyuan juice brand will be retained, and Coca-Cola will bring advanced technology to Huiyuan, which will be more beneficial to consumers in China.
Qu Bing, assistant to the president of Huiyuan Group, said yesterday: At present, this matter is still in the tender offer stage, but this transaction will certainly not affect Huiyuan's existing juice production.
Coca-Cola's market share will be far ahead.
According to the data, Huiyuan Juice has the largest market share of pure juice in China. In 2007, the sales of Huiyuan juice reached 2.656 billion yuan, up 28.6% year-on-year. In the first half of this year, the total output of Huiyuan beverages was 540,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of11.11%. Other well-known fruit and vegetable juice brands include Uni-President and Farmer Orchard.
According to the report of AC Nielsen, in 2007, the fruit and vegetable juice market in China increased greatly, and fruit and vegetable juice was the fastest growing soft drink. In terms of value, fruit and vegetable juice has become the second largest beverage market after carbonated drinks. Huiyuan predicts that by 20 12, the growth of fruit and vegetable juice drinks will exceed that of carbonated drinks market.
According to the data of Euromonitor International Information Consulting Company, Huiyuan Juice has a market share of 10.3% in China, followed by Coca-Cola with a market share of 9.7%.
According to the data published by Huiyuan itself, by the end of 2007, Huiyuan 100% juice and medium concentration fruit and vegetable juice accounted for 42.6% and 39.6% of the total domestic market respectively, and continued to occupy the leading position in the market. Thus, once Coca-Cola completes the acquisition of Huiyuan, its share in the fruit and vegetable juice market in China will be far ahead of its competitors.
The acquisition will be submitted for antitrust review.
Yesterday, after the news of Coca-Cola's acquisition of Huiyuan Juice was released, a third-party source related to the acquisition revealed that the acquisition involved the newly promulgated Anti-monopoly Law and would be reported to the Anti-monopoly Department of the Ministry of Commerce for approval.
Coca-Cola also confirmed this statement. Li Xiaojun said that after the signing of the agreement of intent, both parties will sort out various application materials and apply to relevant departments for approval, including the Anti-monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce.
According to legal experts, according to the latest regulations of the State Council, the merger and acquisition of mainland enterprises listed on the stock exchange by foreign-funded enterprises meets one of the following two conditions: (1) In 2007, the total turnover of both parties in the world exceeded 1000 billion yuan, and the turnover of both parties in China in 2007 exceeded 400 million yuan; Or (2) the total turnover of both parties in China in 2007 exceeded 2 billion yuan, and the turnover of both parties in China in 2007 exceeded 400 million yuan. "The initial acquisition of Huiyuan by Coca-Cola definitely reached this standard." The above experts said.