Latham Advises Coca-Cola İçecek in US$250 Million Privatization of Uzbek Bottling Business

Latham & Watkins advised Coca-Cola İçecek (CCI) in their acquisition from The State Assets Management Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzSAMA) of a 57.118% sale stake in Coca-Cola Bottlers Uzbekistan, Ltd (CCBU). The agreement comes following CCI’s successful bid in the multi-stage competitive open sale process run by UzSAMA to privatize that stake.

CCI’s final bid was cash consideration of US$252.28 million on the basis of an enterprise value of US$430 million for 100% of CCBU on a cash free debt free basis. The transaction is expected to close within two months, subject to government and regulatory approvals.

CCI is a multinational beverage company and one of the key bottlers of the Coca-Cola system; producing, distributing and selling sparkling and still beverages of The Coca-Cola Company. CCI's shares are traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. CCBU is one of the leading companies of Uzbekistan in the beverage sector.

The deal team was led by Hong Kong partner Richard Watkins and Moscow partner Alexander Gomonov, with associate Bairas Magadeev. Additional advice was provided by subject matter experts from across the firm.