ANTHONY CLARK: Deal with intriguing possibilities
Why doesn’t PSG Group use the cash from the PepsiCo transaction to buy more, or all, of Zeder?
By the time this publication hits the shops, proceeds from SA’s largest inbound food acquisition will have been paid out to shareholders.Then some fun could begin.In mid-2019 the world’s second-largest soft drinks company, US-listed PepsiCo — owners of the drinks brands but also of Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Doritos and Frito-Lay chips — made a R25.4bn offer to buy SA’s second-largest foods company, Pioneer Foods.The offer was at R110.00 a share, a 56.5% premium to the prevailing 30-day volume weighted average share price.The size of this transaction makes it comparable to US private equity firm Bain’s purchase of retail chain Edcon for R25bn in 2007 and of US retail giant WalMart’s acquisition of a R16.5bn stake in Massmart in 2010. For Bain and Massmart both turned into disasters.Let’s hope history does not repeat itself.PepsiCo is no stranger to this country. The company’s efforts through local operators to roll out the Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7UP and other carbonated soft drinks brands...
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