Coca-Cola Enterprises' CEO says Germany remains "challenging"
If a deal announced in February is approved by regulators and shareholders, Atlanta-based bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises will have the right to acquire bottling operations in Germany from Coca-Cola sometime in the future. On Wednesday, the chief executive of CCE said he was "keenly interested" in a deal. But he outlined numerous problems in the German market and said a German transaction should only be done at the "right price."
John Brock said Germany is a challenging market for Coca-Cola for several reasons, from the number of employees and plants to the the relatively low market share of Coca-Cola products to the presence of deep discounters. "We've learned a lot of painful lessons in Germany," he said. "We've got a lot of work to do."
Brock said CCE's planned takeover of Norway and Sweden from Coca-Cola should help it refine its process for mergers and acquisitions. "We're not going to do this transaction (in Germany) unless it creates value," Brock said. "It is a challenging market. It's strategically important because it's big and it's in the center of Europe. (But) we're going into it eyes wide open."
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