Coca-Cola Co. plans to end a bottling deal with brewer Delta Corp. as Anheuser-Busch InBev NV becomes the biggest shareholder in Zimbabwe’s largest company.
The move may have “a material impact on the company’s business,” Harare-based Delta said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. The maker of Chibuku sorghum beer was about 23 percent-owned by SABMiller, taken over by AB InBev in a $103 billion deal to create the world’s largest brewer last month.
Coca-Cola has also signalled an intent to buy out AB InBev from an African bottling joint venture originally agreed to with SABMiller. AB InBev’s ultimate goal is possible acquisition of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, HSBC said in a note Sept. 29.
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