THE government of Lesotho holds 60 percent shareholding in partnership with Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) after the latter announced two weeks ago that it has acquired Maluti Mountain Breweries (MMB)’ interest in the soft drinks business.
business
May 26, 2021
NEO SENOKO
2 min read
Govt in 60-40 partnership with Coco-Cola
CCBA announced that after some re-organisation, it has acquired MMB interests in the soft drinks business, which is now known as Coca-Cola Beverages Lesotho (CCBL).
Key stakeholders in this venture include the Lesotho National Development Corporation (LNDC) and the Ministry of Finance.
The deal was signed on October 6, 2020 and all the necessary regulatory approvals have been obtained.
The non-alcoholic ready to drink business will operate as a subsidiary of CCBA, with management control.
In an interview with Metro this week, CCBA PR Senior Account Executive, Lungile Manganyi revealed that there is a 60-40 percent partnership between the company and the Lesotho government.
“There is a 60-40 shareholding split between the Lesotho government and CCBA. Coca-Cola Beverages Lesotho successfully started distributing Coca-Cola products from May 10, 2021 to designated wholesalers,” Mr Manganyi also said.
While the company could not reveal figures into how much distribution has been made so far, the Account Executive divulged that going forward, the company will introduce other related products in their beverage offering.
“As a start, we will introduce Cappy fruit juices and a variety of energy drinks to our beverage offering,” He further showed.
CCBA is the eighth largest Coca-Cola bottling partner in the world by revenue, and the largest on the continent. It accounts for 40 percent of all Coca-Cola products sold in Africa by volume.
CCBA’s African footprint encompasses South Africa, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique, Comoros, Mayotte, Zambia, Botswana, Eswatini and now Lesotho.
The group employs more than 16 00 people directly, almost half of them in South Africa.
Enjoy our daily newsletter from today
Access exclusive newsletters, along with previews of new media releases.
CCBA bottles and distributes beverages whose trademarks are owned by The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) or TCCC’s affiliated entities. It has more than 40 bottling plants in 14 countries.
The creation of CCBA in 2016 was designed to advance a consolidated, more successful Coca-Cola system on the continent.
CCBA began its operations as a legal entity from July 2016 having been created as a direct result of a merger between non-alcoholic ready to drink bottling operations of the Coca-Cola Company, (then) SABMiller and Gutsche Family Investments.
CCBA shareholders are, 66.5 percent Coca-Cola Company and 33.5 percent Gutsche Family Investments.
The company boasts a diverse Pan-African footprint servicing over 650 000 outlets that serve a combined population of over 300 million people across the continent.
Tailored for you
