DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
PepsiAmericas Inc. (PAS) followed Pepsi Bottling Group Inc.
(PBG) in rejecting PepsiCo. Inc.'s (PEP) offer to buy the rest of
the company it doesn't already own, calling it unacceptible.
Pepsi made the nearly $1.7 billion cash-and-stock offer for the
nearly 60% of PepsiAmericas last month, saying it would be better
to fully control its two biggest bottlers. The bid initially valued
PepsiAmericas' shares at $23.27 each, but the stock has been
trading above that since the offer was made public, closing
Wednesday at $25.20.
As Pepsi Bottling directors said, PepsiAmericas independent
board members contended Thursday that Pepsi is "significantly"
undervaluing potential synergies from a buyout and that the offer
"does not reflect the value of PepsiAmericas' strengths and
stand-alone strategies, as evidenced by the company's strong first
quarter results."
Earnings rose slightly in the period, excluding restructuring
charges and the prior-year quarter having an extra week of results.
Revenue rose slightly on price hikes, but volumes continued to
decline amid ongoing weakness for soda sales.
A Pepsi spokeswoman wasn't immediately available for
comment.
-By Kevin Kingsbury, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2136;
kevin.kingsbury@dowjones.com