Coke Consolidated gains more territory in trade-off with Coke

Coca-Cola Bottling Co Consolidated has acquired additional distribution territory in parts of Arkansas, Tennessee and South Carolina – as well as manufacturing facilities straddling the Arkansas-Tennessee border – as part of a trade-off with The Coca-Cola Company.

Coke Consolidated will offload distribution territory in parts of southern Alabama, southwestern Georgia, southeastern Mississippi, northwestern Florida, south-central Tennessee, plus areas in and around Florence, Alabama; Laurel, Mississippi; and Somerset, Kentucky.

In exchange, it will inherit additional distribution territory in central and southern Arkansas; territory in and around Memphis, Tennessee, including in portions of northwestern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas; plus territory in Spartanburg and Bluffton, South Carolina.

It will also acquire manufacturing facilities in Memphis, Tennessee and West Memphis, Arkansas – just over the state border – in exchange for the transfer of a manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama.

The fragmented and complex transactions form part of Coca-Cola’s long-term effort to refranchise all remaining company-owned territory in the US. The areas being acquired were previously managed by Coca-Cola Refreshments, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company.

In May, Coca-Cola said that it would finish its refranchising efforts by the end of this year.