On 31 May 2000, it was announced that Orkla and Carlsberg A/S planned to unite Carlsberg's and Orkla's beverage activities in Carlsberg Breweries. Following that announcement, it was necessary to restructure Coca-Cola Nordic Beverages a/s (CCNB), which is a joint venture between The Coca-Cola Company and Carlsberg A/S. As a Coca-Cola Anchor Bottler, CCNB has handled production and sale of Coca-Cola products in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden.
Carlsberg Breweries is now formally established.
An agreement has now been made between The Coca-Cola Company and Carlsberg A/S regarding a division of CCNB's bottling operations. The agreement is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities, and the implementation of the practical aspects in relation to the division of CCNB is pending such approval.
The Coca-Cola Company and Carlsberg A/S have also signed a binding agreement with Icelandic investors, including the present Icelandic management, regarding the sale by CCNB of the Icelandic bottling plant Vifilfell.
The principal agreement entails that The Coca-Cola Company will take over the Swedish and Norwegian companies. Carlsberg A/S and Orkla have agreed that Carlsberg Breweries will take over CCNB’s operations in Finland and Denmark.
The distribution co-operation in Sweden between Carlsberg Breweries’ subsidiary Falcon Bryggerier AB and Coca-Cola Sverige AB will be phased out during the year 2001. The joint distribution company DryckesDistributören AB will then be dissolved and the activities divided between the two owners.
In Denmark, Coca-Cola Tapperierne will continue in the present set-up. In the long term, Carlsberg Breweries will assess whether synergy effects can be achieved with the Danish beer activities.
In Finland, efforts are being made to integrate the activities of the sales company Coca-Cola Juomat into the Carlsberg Breweries-owned brewery Sinebrychoff, which already bottles and distributes Coca-Cola products for the Finnish market.
When the division of all CCNB activities has been completed, a solvent winding-up of the company will be carried through.