Varun Beverages acquires PepsiCo's bottling franchise in South & West India

RJ Corp-owned Varun Beverages, PepsiCo's long-standing franchise bottling partner, has acquired the bottling business of PepsiCo in South and West India for an undisclosed amount. This development makes VBL national bottling partner for PepsiCo.

Ahmed El Sheikh, President of PepsiCo India, said, "To unlock the full potential of PepsiCo’s operating model in India, the company has decided to franchise its company-owned bottling operations in South and West regions to Varun Beverages Limited (VBL), subject to receipt of necessary statutory approvals."

"With this agreement, VBL will acquire a national bottling, sales and distribution footprint. The move will profitably drive synergies of scale, operational productivity and efficiency across all facets of PepsiCo's beverage business," he further stated.

Ravi Jaipuria, Chairman of VBL, added, "Varun Beverages and PepsiCo India are further strengthening their close to a three-decade-long partnership. This development will help us acquire greater scale, operational productivity and efficiency leading to higher revenues and profitable growth."