By Ian Neubauer
Coca-Cola Amati (CCA) chief executive Terry Davis has attempted to sink speculation that Pacific Beverages — a joint venture between his company and SABMiller — was eyeing Foster’s beer business.
“At today’s share price, [Foster’s] doesn’t represent value to us and I’m not interested,” Davis told The Australian Financial Review.
“If something changes in that dynamic in six months to 12 months, obviously we’d look at it on its merits at the time,” he was reported as saying.
Widespread reports that CCA was eyeing Foster’s beer business surfaced at CCA’s annual general meeting in May, when Davis used the ‘F’ word in an off-handed comment. "You’ve even got Foster’s playing around in beverages," Davis said at the time.
However, Davis said yesterday CCA would focus on organically growing its beer business with brewing giant SABMiller.
“We are very comfortable with what we’re doing on our organic growth strategy and that’s what we intend to pursue,” he said.
CCA shares were trading at $7.34 at midday on Wednesday, up from $7.18 the day before.