PepsiCo has made a €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) offer to buy South Africa's Pioneer Food Group 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 (€7.05) 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.
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