Coca-Cola UNITED expands Georgia territory in the Close of Transaction with The Coca-Cola Company for Athens Coca-Cola

Athens, Ga. – April 28, 2017 – Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., announced today it closed the transaction with The Coca-Cola Company to expand its franchise territory into the Athens area.

This transaction follows Coca-Cola UNITED’s December 2015 announcement in which it signed Letters of Intent with The Coca-Cola Company for the acquisition of the Athens distribution territory, along with seven other territories in Georgia, including Atlanta.

“The Athens Coca-Cola team is excited to become a part of the Coca-Cola UNITED family,” said Fred Butler, sales center manager in Athens.  “UNITED’s operating philosophy is built on local relationships, personalized customer service, and active community engagement.  Athens Coca-Cola is ready to build on that tradition and grow our presence in this community.”

Since 2014, Coca-Cola UNITED has successfully acquired 26 distribution territories and four production facilities from The Coca-Cola Company, adding approximately 6,000 new associates. In addition to Athens, this recent transaction included seven other franchise territories in north and central Georgia.   Additional acquisitions resulting in continued growth of UNITED’s footprint are planned through the end of October. These acquisitions are part of The Coca-Cola Company’s refranchising process which is leading U.S. bottlers to increase in size by obtaining more territory adjacent to areas in which they operate, thereby more effectively and efficiently serving their consumers, customers and communities.

Athens Coca-Cola is a division of Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED (“UNITED”), Inc., which was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Birmingham, AL.  UNITED is the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States and the second largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler in the North American system.  The company is engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta, Dasani water, POWERADE, vitamin water and many more beverages under exclusive franchise agreements with The Coca-Cola Company and other soft drink manufacturers.  For more than 115 years, local relationships, personalized customer service, and strong community engagement have been the foundation of its business.  Coca-Cola UNITED is undergoing a major expansion, and by the end of 2017 will have approximately 10,000 associates located in 52 territories across seven southeastern states.  For more information, visit us at www.cocacolaunited.com.