Coca-Cola to buy stake in S Korea bottling unit

SEOUL: Coca-Cola Co has agreed to take part in LG Household & Health Care's acquisition of the South Korean bottling arm of Australia's Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd, a source familiar with the deal said on Wednesday.

The US beverage giant will take a 10 per cent stake in the South Korean business of Coca-Cola Amatil, which South Korea's LG Household agreed to buy for $445 million-$467 million early this month, the source told media.

LG Household, which has said it hope to sell part of shares in the newly acquired unit to Coca-Cola to help secure basic liquids, will retain 90 per cent, the source added. LG declined to comment.

Growth had been slowing in Amatil's South Korean business as more consumers turn to healthier, sugar-free drinks, but it boasts of strong distribution networks to major restaurants and retail chains in the country.

Coca-Cola controls 48 per cent of South Korea's soft drinks market but lost volume following a recall of Coca-Cola bottles in July 2006 after a criminal poisoning case.