By Promit Mukherjee

JOHANNESBURG – Coca-Cola (NYSE) Beverages Africa is planning to further consolidate the parent’s bottling operations on the continent. This was stated by its chief executive Tuesday as the corporation prepares to go public.

CCBA, an Atlanta-based bottling firm with operations across 14 African countries is the eighth largest. Since 2017, it has acquired bottling businesses in Botswana Botswana Eswatini Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Botswana. This has helped to create a $3.2 billion empire by 2021.

Jacques Vermeulen (CEO of CCBA) stated, “At CCBA we firmly believe [in] one bottler. One country because that’s the only way to win in Africa,” during a virtual presentation for investors.

He said that the company was open to partnerships and brand acquisitions with other beverages makers on the continent. However, he stressed that it is first and foremost concerned about organic growth.

Coca-Cola stated in April that it planned to list CCBA within the next 18-months, subject to market conditions. A primary listing in Amsterdam would take place, with the secondary listing being on Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

Vermeulen declined to provide further details about the initial public offering.

Based on their revenue, CCBA may be one of the 40 most valuable companies in the area.

Although the company’s volume growth has been faster than most other Coca-Cola bottling units, sales suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Norton Kingwill, Chief Financial Officer, stated that the company is back to double-digit top line growth and has almost recovered from pre-pandemic levels.

Parent Coca-Cola, which includes CCBA results for 2021, will release full-year reports in February.