Swire expands its presence in the beverage market
British corporation Swire announced the acquisition of plants in Vietnam and Cambodia, the transaction amounted to 1.015 billion dollars. The companies are engaged in the bottling of Coca-Cola drinks.
The deal is interesting because it is the first for Swire in the Southeast Asian beverage sector. According to the representatives of the conglomerate, this market has excellent growth dynamics and is of interest to the development of Swire’s business. The plants will be taken over by the corporation after the terms of the deal are examined by the antitrust committee.
It should be noted that Swire and Coca-Cola have interacted in the past. In 2016, the British corporation purchased a beverage bottling plant located in a region of China from a U.S. manufacturer. This allowed Swire’s beverage division to take over Coca-Cola’s bottling capacity in the PRC. In all, the conglomerate serves more than 675 million consumers in the country.
Over the past few years, Swire has changed its investment strategy and is now redirecting investments into its key areas of beverage production and investments. These segments generate the corporation’s largest profits. In addition, Swire is increasing investments in the promising healthcare market.
In addition, the conglomerate’s assets include a large Asian airline, Cathay Pacific Airways.
The change in strategy led to the sale of a number of companies, including Swire Pacific Offshore Holdings. It was sold for $190 million to Tidewater Corporation. In addition, in 2020, Swire struck a deal with investment firm Gaw Capital Partners for $1.3 billion. As a result, the British conglomerate got rid of a share of assets in commercial real estate – a tower in Hong Kong.
Swire has been on the market since 1816. The headquarters are in Hong Kong and the office is in London. Originally a small trading house in Liverpool, in 1861 the firm began trading in China, which allowed 5 years later to organize a joint company with partners in Shanghai. Later a branch in Hong Kong was opened.
Swire is present in different market sectors and important areas for the conglomerate are logistics services, including sea and air freight. In addition, the corporation owns residential and commercial real estate in various countries. Swire is also represented in the agricultural and food industries.
The corporation’s assets are mostly concentrated in the Asian region, but it also owns facilities in Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and African countries. Units in other countries are managed through subsidiaries.
