"Coca-Cola" Co., the world"s largest soft drink maker, wants to buy Russian beverage maker "Nidan Juices", to expand its portfolio in the country. "The deal needs to be approved by the regulators", said Vladimir Kravtsov, the spokesperson of "Coca-Cola" Russia.
"Nidan", a company headquartered in Moscow, saw its sales drop 7% in 2008, to 8.02 billion rubles (USD 274 million). Its net profit was 116.2 million Rubles. "Nidan" was acquired by "Lion Capital", a British private equity fund, in August 2006.
"Coca-Cola" is expanding in Russia and battling its rival "PepsiCo" Inc. In 2008, "PepsiCo" and "Pepsi Bottling" took over 75.5% of the largest Russian juice maker, "Lebedyansky", for USD 1.4 billion. "PepsiCo" may consider other acquisitions in Russia, according to executive director Indra Nooyi.