Dutch bottling conglomerate Refresco has completed its acquisition of three U.S. manufacturing facilities from The Coca-Cola Company, as first announced in August 2021.
The three production plants in Truesdale, Missouri; Waco, Texas; and Paw Paw, Michigan employ a combined 1,000 people and produce brands including Minute Maid, Gold Peak, Vitaminwater and Powerade.
“I am very pleased that we have added these three production facilities in Truesdale (MO), Waco (TX) and Paw Paw (MI), to the Refresco Group,” said Refresco CEO Hans Roelofs. “This is an important step in our growth strategy, as we continue to strengthen our capabilities in North America. By expanding our network, we have improved proximity to our customers. In addition, we see ample potential to continue growing our business and our customer base in North America. With this acquisition, we also further enhance our position in terms of product and packaging portfolio.”
In July 2021, Refresco agreed to purchase five production sites in Germany from family-owned independent beverage manufacturer Hansa-Heemann, bringing Refresco’s total production footprint in the country to nine bottling facilities, giving it national coverage and expanding the company’s offerings in water and CSDs. The company has an annual revenue of around $355m (€300m) and employs over 800 people in Germany.
Across the two transactions, Refresco has added over 1,800 employees and 8 new production facilities its network, which now stands at 72 in North America and Europe combined.
Speaking to BevNET last August, Refresco CEO Hans Roelofs said the three new acquisitions fit with Refresco’s broader strategy of building its branded customer business — which includes Coca-Cola as an existing client, alongside names like Pepsi, Monster, Red Bull and AriZona — to complement its private label services. As with previous transactions, he said, the deal for the assets also includes a co-packing contract with Coca-Cola.
In February, New York-based investment firm KKR announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Refresco. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.