Japanese firm holds 51 percent of PepsiCo Vietnam shares
(VOV) - Global beverage giant PepsiCo and Japan’s Suntory Holdings Ltd. have agreed to form a joint-venture in Vietnam.
Suntory and PepsiCo will play a key role in the management team of the new joint venture, which will serve as the bottler for both companies in Vietnam.
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PepsiCo said it would retain marketing and innovation responsibilities for its portfolio of beverage brands in Vietnam, which include Pepsi-Cola, 7-UP, Sting, Mirinda, Tropicana Twister, Lipton and Aquafina.
The two companies have been successfully partners for more than 30 years in other beverage markets such as the US, Japan and New Zealand.
PepsiCo and Suntory have also worked together in the United States, Japan and New Zealand, according to a press statement.
The new joint venture is expected to boost PepsiCo's existing position in Vietnam and create new growth opportunities for PepsiCo and Suntory in the market.
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than US$65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than US$1 billion each in annual retail sales.
Since 1994, PepsiCo has invested US$500 million in five beverage plants in Vietnam.
Earlier this week, a PepsiCo plant, the largest of its kind in Asia, was inaugurated in VSIP industrial zone in the northern province of Bac Ninh, with a total investment of US$73 million. This is part of the beverage giant’s three-year investment plan worth US$250 million in Vietnam announced in August 2010.
Suntory Group was founded in 1899 and has become a multi-national major beverage company with a broad range of business including wellness, food, restaurants and flowers. In 2011, Suntory's consolidated sales were more than US$23 billion.
Suntory noted that the expansion into Vietnam is a key part of its long-term plans after the establishment of Singapore-based Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte. Ltd. to help expand its beverage business in Southeast Asia.