PepsiCo agreed to buy South Africa’s Pioneer Foods for about US$1.7 billion, adding local brands such as Weet-Bix breakfast cereal and Ceres fruit juice to ignite a push across the continent, Reuters reported Friday, July 19.
“Pioneer Foods forms an important part of our strategy to not only expand in South Africa, but further into sub-Saharan Africa as well,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement.
PepsiCo offered 110 rand (US$7.94) a share for Pioneer, a premium of about 56% over the last closing price before deal speculation began in earnest on Monday, the companies said in separate statements. Zeder Investments, Pioneer’s biggest shareholder with a 27% stake, will vote in favor of the deal, alongside investors holding more than half the foodmaker’s stock.
Full Content: Reuters
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