PRESS: Alfa-Group may sell IDS Borjomi to Nestle or Coca-Cola

MOSCOW, Oct 4 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Alfa-Group plans to sell its stake in one of Eurasia’s largest producers of bottled water IDS Borjomi International to Coca-Cola or Nestle, Kommersant business daily reported on Thursday quoting sources.

IDS Borjomi operates nine plants in Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia, and its sales amounted to about 1.5 billion liters of bottled water in 2017. According to Forbes, Alfa-Group owns 55.8% in the company.

Sources told Kommersant that Alfa-Group negotiated the sale of its stake to Nestle, and a source said that the companies were very close to striking a deal. But another source said that Coca-Cola also participated in the negotiations, and a source close to them confirmed Coca-Cola’s interest to IDS Borjomi.

Alexei Krivoshapko, director of Prosperity Capital Management, told the business daily that IDS Borjomi may cost U.S. $400–480 million.

Aton’s senior analyst Viktor Dima told Kommersant that international giants like Nestle and Coca-Cola usually buy companies to maintain simple ownership structures, so the premium to the price may stand at 20–30% in this case, raising the price of the asset to about $630 million.

Nestle and Coca-Cola declined to comment.

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