Pepsi Units to Merge in $7.8 Billion Deal

Soft drink giant PepsiCo said Tuesday it has entered into merger agreements with The Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas, under which PepsiCo will acquire all of the outstanding shares of its two largest anchor bottlers.

The $7.8 billion deal will give PepsiCo control of about 80% of its North American beverage market, enabling Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in annual costs and simplify negotiations with retailers, Bloomberg reported.

Pepsi Bottling Group ranks No. 5 in the 2009 Transport Topics 100, with 4,800 tractors. Pepsi Americas ranks No. 12 with 2,215 tractors, and PepsiCo is No. 13 with 2,108 tractors.

The combined total of the three entities would make 9,123 tractors and displace Coca-Cola Enterprises as No. 1 on the TT Private 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian private carriers.

The 2009 TT Private 100 listing was released this week.

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