Mexican soft-drink company Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF.MX, KOF) said Thursday it has agreed to acquire and merge the bottling operations of Grupo Fomento Queretano, in its third such deal this year as it continues with consolidation of the Coca-Cola Co. (KO) bottling system in Mexico.

Coca-Cola Femsa said the transaction is valued at 6.6 billion pesos ($475 million). Shareholders of Grupo Fomento Queretano will receive around 45.1 million newly issued Coca-Cola Femsa L shares, valued at MXN119.29 a share. Coca-Cola Femsa will also assume MXN1.22 billion in net debt.

Coca-Cola Femsa shares recently traded 1.1% higher to MXN121.31 on the Mexican Stock Exchange.

Privately held Grupo Fomento Queretano is one of Mexico's oldest Coca-Cola bottlers, with operations mostly in Queretaro and other central states, the company said.

The Queretaro-based bottler has two bottling facilities and nine distribution centers, with close to 2,400 employees serving more than 37,000 clients. In 2011, the bottler is expected to sell 110 million unit cases and generate MXN3.02 million in revenue for estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of MXN683 million.

The deal also gives Coca-Cola Femsa a 12.92% stake in sugar firm Promotora Industrial Azucarera.

Coca-Cola Femsa, Latin America's largest Coca-Cola bottler, said that this latest deal, along with two others earlier this year with Grupo Tampico and Grupo Cimsa, add more than 425 million unit cases and MXN12 billion in annual revenue for an approximate 30% increase in volume and revenue for its Mexican operations.

"We continue to show flexibility to invite new partners with whom we share an aligned vision of economic and social value creation," Coca-Cola Femsa chief executive Carlos Salazar said in a statement.

For their part, shareholders of Grupo Fomento Queretano highlighted Coca-Cola Femsa's scale, management team and geographic proximity--the larger bottler operates territories to the east and west of the Queretaro-based firm--for their choice of alignment.

Also this year, Embotelladoras Arca merged with Grupo Continental to form Arca Continental (AC.MX), the second-largest Coke bottler in Mexico and Latin America.

Apart from Coca-Cola Femsa and Arca Continental, there are now eight remaining independent Coke bottlers operating in Mexico. The Coca-Cola company supports the consolidation trend, as it sees a more unified system improving its business in a country that contributes heavily to the Atlanta-based firm's bottom line.

"For us, anything that improves efficiency is good," Rafael Fernandez, vice president of public affairs and communication for Coca-Cola de Mexico, told Dow Jones Newswires during an October interview at the company's Mexico City headquarters.

-By Anthony Harrup and Amy Guthrie, Dow Jones Newswires; (5255) 5890 5176; anthony.harrup@dowjones.com