Coca-Cola Enterprises Shareholders Approve Merger

Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. shareholders voted to approve the company's proposed bottling merger Tuesday, which would create the largest independent Coke bottler by sales world-wide.

The vote brings Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Enterprises, a big, independent Coke bottler in Western Europe, closer to its pending tie-up with Coca-Cola Iberian Partners and Germany's Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgeträ nke AG. The deal is expected to close this weekend.

The merger furthers a push by Coca-Cola Co. to consolidate its bottlers around the world and lower costs. Amid falling soda sales in many of its markets, including Europe, the company has been seeking to merge its smaller overseas bottlers into bigger, more efficient operations.

Larger bottlers would be better able to market and advertise Coke and other beverages and have more flexibility in pricing and packaging. Consumers have been moving away from high-calorie soft drinks toward bottled water, energy drinks and teas, taxing smaller, less efficient and flexible bottlers.

Meanwhile, Coke has been refranchising its North American bottlers. After years of snail-paced progress, the company is racing to sell off its U.S. manufacturing and distribution operations by next year so it can focus on its more-profitable concentrate-making business.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2016 10:15 ET (14:15 GMT)

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