It has been an eventful past few years for Coca-Cola Co. and its biggest North American bottler. Some of the notable turning points:
April 2006: John Brock named chief executive of bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises; Brock previously had worked as CEO of Belgium-based brewer InBev and as chief operating officer of Cadbury Schweppes, a beverage and confectionery company.
December 2006: Muhtar Kent named president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola Co., after a career in bottling and in Coca-Cola's international operations, including in North Asia, Eurasia and the Middle East.
April 2008: Brock named chairman of CCE.
Oct. 2008: CCE says that Coca-Cola raised its concentrate cost by high single digits and cut its funding by $35 million in response to CCE's post-Labor Day price increases; the public spat between the two partners rattles Wall Street and shares in both companies drop.
July 2008: Kent named chief executive of Coca-Cola.
April 2009: Kent named chairman of Coca-Cola.
April 20, 2009: PepsiCo announces $6 billion bid for PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Group, its two largest North American bottlers; analysts wonder whether the change in strategy will force Coca-Cola to respond.
Aug. 4, 2009: PepsiCo reaches agreement to buy its two biggest bottlers for a sweetened price of $7.8 billion.
Feb. 25, 2010: Coca-Cola announces $12.3 billion bid for CCE; the timing of the deal apparently surprises Wall Street; Coca-Cola's stock drops about 3 percent in the day's trading on the New York Stock Exchange while CCE shares climb 30 percent.
Feb. 26, 2010: PepsiCo closes its acquisition of PepsiAmericas and Pepsi Bottling Group.
June 7, 2010: Coca-Cola agrees to pay $715 million in cash to Dr Pepper Snapple Group for the right to distribute Dr Pepper brands in the United States and Canada Dry in the northeast; the 20-year deal gives Coca-Cola continued access to the coveted Dr Pepper brand, even after taking over CCE's North American network.
Sept. 27, 2010: After refiling its applications twice, Coca-Cola gets a green light from the Federal Trade Commission and Canadian Competition Bureau to finalize its CCE deal.
Oct. 1, 2010: In a special meeting in Atlanta, CCE shareholders approve the deal with Coke by an overwhelming margin.
Weekend of Oct. 2-3, 2010: Coke closes agreement with CCE.
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