PepsiCo eliminates board of directors, management board of WBD
MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) - PepsiCo, owner of 100% of OJSC Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods , has decided to fully terminate the powers of WBD's board of directors ahead of schedule.
The statutes on WBD's shareholders meeting, board of directors and executive bodies were repealed as a result of the decision. WBD's charter was approved in a new version, the company said in a press release.
These decisions were taken in line with WBD's integration with PepsiCo. "The company is no longer public, which is why a number of juridical and structural changes are necessary," PepsiCo representative Alexander Kostikov told Interfax. In particular, WBD will no longer have a management board or board of directors, he said.
In December 2010, PepsiCo agreed to purchase WBD, valuing the company at $5.8 billion. At the beginning of February 2011, it closed the acquisition of 66% of WBD's shares. PepsiCo bought another 11% of WBD's shares on the market. In March, PepsiCo offered to buy out the remaining 23.02% of WBD from the minority shareholders. It announced a compulsory buyout of 1.37% of WBD's shares on June 1, and in September it consolidated 100% of WBD's shares.
After the purchase, PepsiCo became the biggest food and beverage manufacturer in Russia, strengthening its position on the growing markets in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It has annual revenue in Russia of around $5 billion.