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The Coca-Cola Company has revealed in a regulatory filing that it agreed to pay $626 million plus the assumption of debt to take full control of its German bottling operations last year, buying out almost 20 small regional bottlers and merging them into major bottler Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke AG (CCEAG), already a Coca-Cola subsidiary.

Coke negotiated for months to clinch the deal, which finally closed in September. The company said one unified bottling operation would be more efficient and responsive to market demands. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows Coke paid $385 million for the 17% of CCEAG shares it did not already own: $156 million in cash upfront, and $85 million in “guaranteed future payments". Coke also took over $34 million in debt. The former independent bottlers have shares in CCEAG, which they may sell back to Coca-Cola at a future date.

Germany is Coke’s biggest European market, but slumped in the wake of a 1999 contamination scare in Belgium and northern France. In its results for 2007, the company reported that its German case volume edged up 1% over the year, with 2% growth in the last quarter, following 7% growth in Q4 the previous year.