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Coca-Cola İçecek completes the acquisition process in Uzbekistan

Following the signing of the Share Purchase Agreement between Coca-Cola İçecek and the State Asset Management Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzSAMA) for the privatization of Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan’s 57.118% stake, the acquisition has been officially completed after the receipt of all relevant governmental and customary approvals. The Chairman of Coca-Cola İçecek and Anadolu Group, Tuncay Özilhan said, "Today, we are proud to take a new step that will strengthen the relationship between Uzbekistan and Türkiye, two sibling countries with historical and cultural ties.” Burak Başarır, CEO of Coca-Cola İçecek, said, “As CCI, we have been operating in this region for nearly 30 years. Thanks to this experience and what we have learned, we believe that we will add value to the Uzbekistan market, which has a growth potential.

Following the announcement by Coca-Cola İçecek (CCI) and the State Asset Management Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzSAMA) on August 6 that the parties had signed a Share Purchase Agreement for a majority stake in LLC Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan (CCBU), the acquisition has been officially completed after the receipt of all relevant governmental and customary approvals. The agreement for the completion of the process was signed on Wednesday at the Uzbekistan Economic Forum 2021, hosted by the Uzbekistan Ministry of Finance.

With this agreement, CCI acquired UzSAMA’s 57.118% stake in CCBU for USD 252.28 million. The remaining shares of CCBU are indirectly owned by The Coca-Cola Company.

Tuncay Özilhan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Coca-Cola İçecek and Anadolu Group, made the following comments in his speech at the signing ceremony: “Today, we are proud to take a new step that will strengthen the relationship between Uzbekistan and Türkiye, two sibling countries with historical and cultural ties.   Anadolu Group has a long history of investments in Central Asia. We have always believed in the potential of the region and the results of all our investment decisions have justified this confidence. As Anadolu Group, we aim to continue our investments to both create employment for the people of Uzbekistan and add value to the country's economy.”

Burak Başarır, CEO of Coca Cola İçecek, made the following comments about the acquisition: "We are delighted that the open sale process resulted in success and we are very excited to have the opportunity to become the majority shareholder of CCBU. This acquisition further solidifies our position as one of the strongest partners in The Coca-Cola System and serves our vision of becoming the best FMCG player in our geographies. We have great respect for the people and history of CCBU as a local Coca-Cola bottler. We aim to improve CCBU’s business and competencies for the benefit of the consumers, employees, society and the Uzbek state. We also believe in the tremendous potential for sustainable and profitable growth in the Uzbek soft drinks market in the short to medium term. This aligns with our quality growth algorithm. Uzbekistan has the largest population in Central Asia but the lowest per capita consumption in the soft drinks market. As CCI, we have been operating in this region for nearly 30 years. Thanks to this experience and what we have learned, we believe that we will add value to the Uzbekistan market, which has a growth potential.”

Jamshid Kuchkarov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, commented on the acquisition: "We are very proud of the CCBU public share sale process, which was conducted in accordance with the international merger and acquisition standards with the consultation by Rothschilds and Dentons.  We believe that Uzbekistan has set a high-quality standard for managing the process of privatization of public shares.  We are also very pleased that CCI, a publicly-traded and reputable company, has been the winner in this process. This result demonstrates the confidence in the liberalization reforms led by our President Mirziyoyev. We also invite all international and Turkish investors to future privatization processes.

Akmalkhon Ortikov, Director of the State Asset Management Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzSAMA), stated that the economy is going under structural reforms led by the President of Uzbekistan. Noting that the steps taken to reduce state involvement and privatize state-owned enterprises have begun to bear the first fruits, Ortikov continued: “This is one of the first examples of the successful privatization processes. CCI's entry into the Uzbek soft drinks market confirms the interest in the country's rapidly growing economy and the strong steps of the Turkish investors. We are confident that CCI's experience will lead CCBU to reach a new level of quality, market development and labor efficiency.”