Dive Brief:

• SABMiller and Coca-Cola will combine their non-alcoholic bottling operations in Africa, creating the largest soda bottler on the continent.
• The deal combines the operations of Coca-Cola Sabco, a bottler controlled by the Gutsche family, with those of SABMiller's South Africa-based soda bottling operation. 
• SABMiller will own a 58% stake in the new company, the Gutsche family will own 31.7%, and Coca-Cola will own 11.7%. 

Dive Insight:

Something is afoot in Africa's bottling industry. The SABMiller deal comes just one week after the maker of Ceres fruit drinks said it was exiting its bottling relationship with Pepsi. One wildcard in all this maneuvering is France's Group Castel. SABMiller owns a 20% stake in Castel, and Castel owns a 38% stake in SABMiller’s Africa business. The SABMiller-Gutsche-Coke deal seems to add to the speculation that SABMIller will soon acquire Castel.