Coca-Cola Won't Adjust Huiyuan Offer Despite Weak Stock Market

The Coca-Cola Co. on Tuesday said it will not revise its offer for China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd. despite the weak equities market.

Li Xiaojun, vice president of Coca-Cola China, told Xinhua that the world's beverage giant is still confident about the outlook for Huiyuan's juice business.

In a joint statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the two companies said China's Ministry of Commerce is still reviewing the application for anti-trust approval. The review will continue until March 23, 2009.

Coca-Cola will make further announcements after the anti-trust review, Li said.

The offer has received support from more than 60 percent of Huiyuan's shareholders.

Coca-Cola said on Sept. 3 it had offered to buy Huiyuan, the nation's largest juice maker, for 17.92 billion Kong Kong dollars (2.3 billion U.S. dollars) in cash. The bid was 12.2 HK dollars per share, tripling the Beijing-based company's closing price of 4.14 HK dollars on Sept. 2.

The acquisition was considered to be a major opportunity for the soft drink giant to expand its non-carbonated drinks market in China, as the sales of carbonated drinks slowed.

"Huiyuan is a well-established and successful brand in China and it is a supplement to Coca-Cola's China operations," Li said.

The offer triggered controversy as Chinese juice producers and consumers expressed concern about possible monopoly power and the loss of a renowned domestic brand.

Wang Zhongming, research center director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, told a forum on Tuesday the offer shows Coca-Cola's confidence in Chinese market and there shouldn't be fear over acquisitions by multinationals.

Huiyuan closed 2.89 percent higher at 9.60 HK dollars in Hong Kong on Tuesday after the joint announcement, when the Hang Seng index lost 5 percent on recession fears.

Source: CRIEnglish