Global drinks major PepsiCo has offloaded its entire company-owned bottling operations in North India to its franchisee bottling partner Varun Beverages.
The divestment is expected to enable the company to move forward in its fight with Coca-Cola for market share, The Economic Times reported.
The transaction includes the sale of four plants and two co-packing units in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
These plants currently employ more than 900 people.
PepsiCo India chairman and CEO D Shivakumar was quoted by the publication as saying: "We are expanding our partnership with a strategic partner who understands the local market and has continually demonstrated the ability to drive synergies and deliver strong market execution."
The company will now mostly market and supply concentrates to bottling operations in north and east regions.
Varun Beverages will now own 13 PepsiCo bottling plants across Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, the North East and Goa.
