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Company will exchange its territory in Jackson, TN for territory
in Lexington, Kentucky
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Additional phase of previously-announced franchise territory
realignment
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 20, 2014--
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ: COKE), the nation’s largest
independent Coca-Cola bottler, today announced it has signed a
definitive agreement with The Coca-Cola Company to exchange the
bottler’s franchise territory in Jackson, TN for territory currently
served by Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc. (CCR), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, in Lexington, KY. This agreement
represents an additional phase of the proposed franchise territory
expansion and realignment described in the previously-announced Letter
of Intent between the Company and The Coca-Cola Company. The Company
expects the exchange transaction to close in the first half of 2015.
The Company is continuing to work toward definitive agreements with The
Coca-Cola Company for the remainder of the proposed franchise territory
expansion and realignment, including territories currently served by CCR
in Cleveland and Cookeville, TN, Louisville, Paducah and Pikeville, KY
and Evansville, IN.
Coca-Cola Consolidated Chairman and CEO J. Frank Harrison III said, “We
are excited about signing a definitive agreement for another phase of
our previously announced transaction with The Coca-Cola Company. We look
forward to serving the Lexington community – including our customers,
consumers, and new employees there.”
The definitive agreement and other agreements to be entered into at
closing will provide for the Company to receive CCR’s existing rights in
the Lexington, KY territory to distribute brands owned by The Coca-Cola
Company, as well as certain other brands not owned by The Coca-Cola
Company that are currently being distributed in the Lexington, KY
territory by CCR. Such agreements will also provide for the Company to
transfer to CCR all of the Company’s existing rights in the Jackson, TN
territory to distribute brands owned by The Coca-Cola Company, as well
as rights to other brands not owned by The Coca-Cola Company that are
currently being distributed in the Jackson, TN territory. The
transaction also includes the exchange, by the Company and CCR, of
certain distribution assets and working capital items in the Company’s
Jackson, TN territory for comparable items in CCR’s Lexington, KY
territory.
Closing of the transaction is subject to the parties satisfying certain
conditions. There can be no assurances that these conditions will be
satisfied or, if not satisfied, waived. The Company will file a Current
Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding
the proposed transaction that will be available on the Commission’s
website at http://www.sec.gov
and on the Company’s website at http://www.cokeconsolidated.com.
For more information about the transaction, including the closing
conditions and about the Company’s relationship with The Coca-Cola
Company, investors should read the information included in the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K and the agreements filed as exhibits to such
report.
Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Coca-Cola Consolidated is the nation’s
largest independent Coca-Cola bottler with franchise territories in 11
states. The Company’s current major markets include: Charlotte, Raleigh,
Wilmington, Greenville, the Triad, and Asheville in North Carolina;
Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston in South Carolina; Charleston,
Beckley, and Parkersburg in West Virginia; Roanoke and Bristol in VA;
Nashville, Johnson City and Morristown in TN; Columbus and Albany in GA;
Mobile, AL; Panama City, FL; and Biloxi, MS.
Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Included in this news release and other information that we make
publicly available from time to time are forward-looking management
comments and other statements that reflect management’s current outlook
for our performance in future periods and management’s expectations for
the proposed territory expansion described in the Letter of Intent
between the Company and The Coca-Cola Company entered into in April
2013. These statements include, among others, statements regarding the
time frame for and sequencing of the proposed territory expansion and
other potential opportunities for profitably growing our business as
well as our plans for continuing to innovate and evolve packaging and
marketing strategies to respond to ever-changing consumer tastes.
These statements and expectations are based on currently available
competitive, financial and economic data along with our operating plans
and are subject to future events and uncertainties that could cause
anticipated events not to occur or actual results to differ materially
from historical or anticipated results. Implementation of the balance of
the proposed territory expansion described in the April 2013 Letter of
Intent is subject to negotiation and execution of definitive agreements
with The Coca-Cola Company and its affiliates for and consummation of
specific territory expansion transactions. Among the other events or
uncertainties which could adversely affect our performance in future
periods are: lower than expected selling pricing resulting from
increased marketplace competition; changes in how significant customers
market or promote our products; changes in our top customer
relationships; changes in public and consumer preferences related to
nonalcoholic beverages; unfavorable changes in the general economy;
miscalculation of our need for infrastructure investment; our inability
to meet requirements under beverage agreements; material changes in the
performance requirements for marketing funding support or our inability
to meet such requirements; decreases from historic levels of marketing
funding support; changes in The Coca-Cola Company’s and other beverage
companies’ levels of advertising, marketing and spending on brand
innovation; the inability of our aluminum can or plastic bottle
suppliers to meet our purchase requirements; our inability to offset
higher raw material costs with higher selling prices, increased
bottle/can sales volume or reduced expenses; consolidation of raw
material suppliers could impact our profitability; increased purchases
of finished goods subject us to incremental risks that could impact our
profitability; sustained increases in fuel costs or our inability to
secure adequate supplies of fuel; sustained increases in workers’
compensation, employment practices and vehicle accident claims costs;
sustained increases in the cost of employee benefits; product liability
claims or product recalls; technology failures; changes in interest
rates; the impact of debt levels on operating flexibility and access to
capital and credit markets; adverse changes in our credit rating
(whether as a result of our operations or prospects or as a result of
those of The Coca-Cola Company or other bottlers in the Coca-Cola
system); changes in legal contingencies; legislative changes affecting
our distribution and packaging; adoption of significant product labeling
or warning requirements; additional taxes resulting from tax audits;
natural disasters and unfavorable weather; global climate change or
legal or regulatory responses to such change; issues surrounding labor
relations; bottler system disputes; our use of estimates and
assumptions; changes in accounting standards; impact of obesity and
health concerns on product demand; public policy challenges regarding
the sale of soft drinks in schools; the impact of volatility in the
financial markets on access to the credit markets; the impact of
acquisitions or dispositions of bottlers by their franchisors; and the
concentration of our capital stock ownership. The forward-looking
statements in this news release should be read in conjunction with the
more detailed descriptions of the above factors located in our Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 29, 2013 under Part I,
Item 1A “Risk Factors” as well as those additional factors we may
describe from time to time in other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes
no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements
contained in this release as a result of new information or future
events or developments.
—Enjoy Coca-Cola—
Source: Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated
Media Contact:
Lauren C.
Steele, 704-557-4551
Senior VP - Corporate Affairs
or
Investor
Contact:
James E. Harris, 704-557-4582
Senior VP – Shared
Services & CFO