Mpls Pepsi bottler rejects PepsiCo buyout offer
PepsiAmericas Inc. on Thursday joined the larger Pepsi Bottling Group in rejecting a PepsiCo proposal to buy its two biggest bottlers in North America.
PepsiAmericas Inc., the second-biggest Pepsi bottler, said in a statement that the bid was "not acceptable and is not in the best interest of the company's shareholders." It said the offer undervalued the Minneapolis-based company.
Analysts have said PepsiCo will need to raise its $6 billion offer for the two bottlers.
PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi reiterated her company's interest in the deal on Wednesday. She has said the deal would cut costs in the long run and help it respond more quickly to a changing marketplace. The company did not immediately return a call for comment Thursday.
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Under the proposed deal, PepsiCo would buy the common shares it does not already own in PepsiAmericas. It would pay $11.64 and 0.223 shares of PepsiCo stock for one share of PepsiAmericas equity.
Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo - which sells Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Tropicana and other drinks - first made the offer in April. Pepsi Bottling Group rejected the deal Monday, calling it "grossly inadequate."
PepsiAmericas also said it had extended a shareholders rights plan to May 2010. Such plans, also known as "poison pills," are commonly used as a way to try to hold off hostile takeover attempts.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)