Varun Drinks Ltd, PepsiCo’s largest franchise bottler, on Wednesday stated it has accomplished the acquisition of South Africa-based Beverage Firm (BevCo) together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

The acquisition was finished after receipt of requisite approvals from PepsiCo Inc and Competitors Fee South Africa and now BevCo has turn into a subsidiary of the corporate from March 26, Varun Drinks Ltd (VBL) in a regulatory submitting.

VBL has additionally issued a company assure amounting to ZAR 1,500 million (round Rs 660 crore) to safe credit score amenities prolonged to BevCo by the FirstRand Financial institution there, it added.

BevCo holds franchise rights from PepsiCo in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini. It additionally has distribution rights for Namibia and Botswana. It additionally owns beverage manufacturers comparable to Refreshhh, a excessive caffeine content material drink, Reboost, an power drink, Coo-ee, a carbonated drink in traditional flavours and JIVE, which is a fizzy Lemonade.

BevCo has 5 manufacturing amenities – two in Johannesburg and one every in Durban, East London and Capetown – and has an put in capability of three,600 BPM (bottles per minute).

“The acquisition will allow VBL to increase its geographical footprint in Africa,” VBL had stated in a regulatory disclosure earlier.

South Africa is the biggest mushy drinks market within the African continent, which is anticipated to develop at a CAGR of 5.3 per cent for the subsequent 4 years until 2027, it had stated.

VBL, which follows the calendar as a monetary yr, had posted its internet income of Rs 16,042.58 crore, up 21.8 per cent in 2023.

Its affiliation with PepsiCo is over three a long time previous. It’s rising the variety of licensed territories and sub-territories to increase its enterprise.