Coca-Cola HBC announced the acquisition of the owner of the Finlandia vodka brand.
American Coca-Cola’s strategic partner, European Coca-Cola HBC, has agreed to buy Brown-Forman Finland, which owns the Finlandia vodka brand, for $220 million. This was reported by the company’s press service.
Completion of the agreement with Brown-Forman Netherlands, a wholly owned subsidiary of Brown-Forman, is expected in the second half of the year.
It is noted that the agreement was concluded as part of Coca-Cola’s campaign to expand its business in bottling premium alcoholic beverages.
“Having been associated with Finlandia distribution for 17 years in many markets, we are excited about this unique and regionally relevant opportunity that will accelerate our local business in many of our markets,” said Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO of Coca- Cola HBC.
Coca-Cola HBC operates in 28 countries on three continents.
Finlandia was founded in 1970. It is the leading vodka brand in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2000, the private American company Brown-Forman acquired a 45% stake in Finlandia. Two years later, the company acquired an additional 35% stake in Finlandia Vodka. In 2004, Brown-Forman bought the remaining 20% of brand shares.
Recall that in 2021, Coca-Cola bought the sports drink manufacturer BodyArmor for $5.6 billion.
Source: korrespondent
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