[jig] December Meeting, Pepsico

Reminder the December Jig meeting is at Chez Louise. 5219 Elliot Ave S., 55417 Fastest = 35W to Diamond Lake Road, East to Portland (T), left/north to 53rd. right/east to Eliott, left/north to 5219 Simplest = 35W to 46th St. East to Chicago, S. to 53, L/E to Elliot, L/N to 5219 In bad weather, Portland can be your best bet. DealBook - A Financial News Service of The New York Times December 2, 2010, 6:22 am Pepsi to Take a $3.8 Billion Sip in Russia By CHRIS V. NICHOLSON Could it be a little dénte over drinks? Even as WikiLeaks has tattled on American diplomats who described Russia as a .virtual mafia state,. the beverage businesses of the two countries just got a little closer. PepsiCo said on Thursday that it had agreed to pay $3.8 billion for a two-thirds stake in the Russian dairy and juice maker Wimm-Bill-Dann. The deal is among the largest by an American company in Russia. The offer is contingent upon regulatory approvals in Russia, which may be a little harder to get after the WikiLeaks revelations, but Pepsi said it would seek to acquire the remaining shares in the company if the deal wins Moscow.s backing. The whole company has an implied enterprise value of $5.4 billion, PepsiCo said. The bid for a stake in Wimm-Bill-Dann.which will raise Pepsi global revenues from $10 billion to $13 billion.is only the latest in a string of such investments by the U.S. company. In 2008, Pepsi paid $1.4 billion for a 78 percent stake in a Russian juice maker, JSC Lebedyansky Pepsi is offering to pay $33 for each American Depositary Receipt, or about $132 for each ordinary Russian share, for the company, a 32 percent premium above its 30-day average trading price. .Adding Wimm-Bill-Dann to PepsiCo.s portfolio is financially attractive and gives us a strong, high-growth platform in the dairy category,. said Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo.s chairwoman and chief executive. Ms. Nooyi added that the deal gave PepsiCo .clear leadership. in Russia.s food and beverage sector, which she called .a fast-growing, strategically important market.. Wimm-Bill-Dann, an 18-year-old company, employs about 16,000 people at 38 production facilities. Its juice and baby food brands are well known in Russia and neighboring countries. The chairman of Wimm-Bill-Dann, Sergei Plastinin, called the deal .a historic one for both our company and our country.. Mr. Plastinin is also one of the shareholders who agreed to sell to the American drinks giant. If the deal is approved, PepsiCo would lead the food and beverage field in Russia. It would be about twice the size of its closest competitor, with annual revenue of around $5 billion. Centerview Partners and Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisers for PepsiCo, and Davis Polk & Wardwell and Linklaters were its legal advisers. Wimm-Bill-Dann used JPMorgan Chase for financial advice and Latham & Watkins for legal assistance. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 * * james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *