By Amy Guthrie
MEXICO CITY--Mexican soft-drink bottler Arca Continental SAB
(AC.MX, EMBVY) said Monday it is moving further into the snack-food
market with the purchases of Wise Foods and Industrias Alimenticias
Ecuatorianas for undisclosed sums.
Arca Continental, which bottles Coca-Cola Co. (KO) beverages and
packages Mexico's third-biggest snack brand, Bokados, said the
addition of the two new brands will raise its annual snack sales to
$400 million in 2013.
The Monterrey, Mexico, company said it negotiated the purchase
of Wise Foods from New York's Palladium Equity Partners LLC, which
has owned the snack brand since 2000.
Arca Continental, which has operated in California and Texas for
25 years, described Wise Foods as "a leading regional salty snack
brand with a strong core market and national expansion potential."
In the metropolitan New York area, Arca Continental said, Wise
Foods is the No. 2 snack brand.,
Wise Foods, based in Berwick, Pa., employs 850 people and
produces 40,000 tons of product a year.
Arca Continental is also active in Ecuador, where the company
generates about 11% of its annual sales. The Ecuadoran firm the
bottler is buying, Inalecsa, employs 400 people and produces 8,000
tons of product for sale in Ecuador and Europe.
Mexican Coke bottlers, flush with cash, have been scouring for
expansion opportunities as the Coke system in Mexico consolidates.
Mexico consumes more Coke beverages per capita than any other
country, 728 eight-U.S.-fluid-ounce bottles a year versus a
world-wide average of 92.
Write to Amy Guthrie at amy.guthrie@dowjones.com
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