Dubai: Saudi beverage company Aujan Industries said on Sunday that it expects to sign more acquisitions in the future with its partner Coca-Cola.
The comments from Nicolaas Nusmeier, Chief Executive Officer at Aujan, at Gulfood in Dubai follow its parent company’s acquisition of Lebanon’s National Beverage Company (NBC).
“From that partnership we are going to develop a series of initiatives and they’re all around growth of beverages within the Middle East and North Africa region,” he said.
Last month Aujan Coca-Cola Beverages Company (ACCBC), developed in 2013 after Coca-Cola purchased a 50 per cent stake in Aujan back in 2011, announced it was acquiring a majority stake of NBC.
Nusmeier said the company will control 80 per cent, with existing shareholder Transmed holding on to 20 per cent. Nusmeier would not say how much the company is purchasing the stake for but said the required capital came from “internal cash flow”.
The deal is expected to be finalised at the end of the second quarter.
“This is part of our strategy together with the Coca Cola Company to develop business in beverage in this part of the world,” Nusmeier said.
Nusmeier said Aujan and Coca Cola share a common interest in increasing the beverage market share in the region, including in Aujan’s juice products.
“This is the first opportunity to do so,” Nusmeier said on the Lebanon deal.
When asked if Aujan Industries, or ACCBC, intend moving jobs out of Lebanon and into its Saudi or UAE offices, Nusmeier said he “would definitely think that we are going to invest in the Lebanon-based business.”
He added that the company will build the business in Lebanon rather than taking business away.
