Bidco Africa Group has acquired the manufacturers of the popular drinks Ribena and Lucozade in a deal that is estimated to be worth millions. Bidco has made the acquisition through its joint venture with the Danish company known as Co-Ro Food. The joint venture is known as Bidcoro Africa Ltd.
Details of the acquisition were released by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) via a report in which the CAK declared that it had given Bidcoro approval for the acquisition of the entire share capital of Suntory Beverage & Food Kenya Limited.
“This approval has been granted based on the finding that the transaction is unlikely to negatively impact competition in the market for non-alcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverages, nor elicit negative public interest concern,” the CAK stated.
“The parties indicated that the rationale of the transaction is addressing [Suntory’s] underperformance by leveraging on the [Bidcoro’s] production and commercialization expertise.”
Suntory Beverage & Food Kenya, the company been making Ribena and Lucozade soft drinks, is wholly owned by Suntory Beverage & Food Asia Pte Ltd, a beverage and food company that has operations in various regions including Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.
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Following this acquisition, Bidco will now hold a 2.8Â per cent market share from the less than one per cent market share it currently holds with its soft drinks and ice lollies which include Suntop, Sunquick, and Suncola.
Currently, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa has the largest market share for soft drinks with a 65 per cent stake. It is followed by Delmonte Kenya with a market share of 5.23 per cent. Kevin Kenya Limited has a market share of 4.4 per cent. Excel has a market share of 2.87 per cent while Predator has a market share of 2.2 per cent.
Suntory comes in with a market share of 1.8 per cent while Redbull has a market share of 1.7 per cent. Highlands has a market share of 1.7 per cent while Brava has a market share of 1.4 per cent. Pepsico has a market share of 1 per cent.