Lotte Group Buys Control of Pepsi Philippines

Lotte Chilsung Beverage, a Lotte Group affiliate, has paid $101 million for a controlling 34.4% stake in Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines (PCPP), becoming its largest shareholder, reports Chosun Ilbo.

Muntinlupa City-based PCPP acquired the Pepsi franchising and bottling rights for the Philippines in 1985. It operates 11 factories and 106 branches in that nation. PCPP posted sales of $380 mil. and net profit of around $17.5 mil. It’s 15% market share makes it the Philippines’s second largest bottler after Coca-Cola.

The Lotte Group was founded by Korean Japanese businessman Shin Kyuk-Ho in 1937 as a confectionary company making chewing gum. It remains headquartered in Tokyo, but after the end of World War II Shin moved the bulk of his business operations to Korea where it is now one of the nation’s leading conglomerates with about $50 bil. in assets.