Mexican soft drink bottler Arca Continental SAB (AC.MX, EMBVF) said Wednesday it has a war chest of more than 3.0 billion pesos ($223 million) it could deploy, plus ample access to credit, should another acquisition opportunity present itself in the near-term.

Chief Executive Francisco Garza told analysts during a conference call that the company is in a "strong financial position to invest" given its consistent cash generation and conservative debt load.

Once separate entities, Embotelladoras Arca SAB and Grupo Continental SAB merged during the second quarter of this year to create the second-biggest bottler of Coca-Cola Co. (KO) products in Latin America.

The Coke system as a whole in Mexico is consolidating at an accelerated rate, with Coca-Cola Femsa SAB (KOF), Latin America's largest Coke bottler, announcing plans in September to acquire regional Mexican Coke bottler Grupo Cimsa after having agreed in June to acquire the beverage operations of another privately held Mexican firm, Grupo Tampico.

The Cimsa and Tampico deals were valued at MXN11 billion and MXN9.30 billion, respectively.

There are nine additional independent bottlers in the Mexican Coke system; two of the bottlers--Corporacion del Fuerte and Bebidas Refrescantes de Nogales--are now engulfed geographically by Arca Continental's operations.

"We consider ourselves to be friendly," Garza said Wednesday, explaining the bottler would consider either a merger or an acquisition. "We are flexible."

Arca Continental recently paid down a bridge loan, bringing its cash position to a little over MXN3 billion. It anticipates capital expenditures this year in the neighborhood of MXN2.6 billion, and MXN3 billion for 2012, with efforts to expand operations in Argentina and Ecuador while also rolling out more coolers in Mexico.

Garza said the bottler has been gaining market share across all categories in its main market, Mexico, aided by favorable economic and weather conditions.

A key challenge for Arca Continental will come from rising raw materials costs, with the company having said earlier Wednesday that its cost of goods sold increased 15.8% on the year in the third quarter as a result of higher PET plastic and sugar prices.

Garza said Arca Continental expects to cover all of its sugar needs in Mexico from its own sugar mill, while it has also negotiated palatable corn prices for its high-fructose corn syrup next year. The bottler aims for a sugar/fructose mix of 40/60.

The bottler has also invested in a plastic recycling plant at which it hopes to double production.

Arca Continental said earlier Wednesday its third-quarter net profit slipped 1.2% on the year to MXN1.45 billion on a pro forma basis that incorporates results of its newly merged operations as if they had been combined in 2010.

Consolidated net sales grew 14.8% on a pro forma basis to MXN13.44 billion during the July-September period, driven by increased volume sales and a higher price per unit case.

The company had net debt as of end-September of MXN7.71 billion and generated cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in the third quarter of MXN2.84 billion.

The third-quarter results were well-received, with Arca Continental shares recently trading up 1.7% to MXN61.39 versus a 1.2% gain in Mexico's broader IPC stock index.

-By Amy Guthrie, Dow Jones Newswires; (5255) 5980-5177, amy.guthrie@dowjones.com