FILE PHOTO: Bottles of Pepsi are pictured at a grocery store in Pasadena, California, U.S., July 11, 2017. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – PepsiCo (PEP.O) has made a $1.7 billion offer to buy South Africa’s Pioneer Food Group (PFGJ.J) the companies said on Friday, boosting the target’s shares by nearly 30%.
The U.S. drinks and snack group said Pioneer Food’s product portfolio was complementary and would help PepsiCo to expand in sub-Saharan Africa by boosting its manufacturing and distribution capabilities.
PepsiCo offered 110 rand ($7.94) per Pioneer Foods ordinary share, the companies said, with the news lifting the South African company’s shares by 28.8% to almost 100 rand.
“Pioneer Foods forms an important part of our strategy to not only expand in South Africa, but further into sub-Saharan Africa as well,” PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement.
Pioneer Foods, which has brands ranging from drinks to grain products such as Weet-Bix and Liqui-Fruit, exports to more than 80 countries.
Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by David Goodman
