FDBusiness.com

PepsiCo has received Russian regulatory clearance for its acquisition of 66% of Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods, Russia’s leading branded food and beverage company, for $3.8b. The US-based soft drinks and snack foods giant now plans to close the acquisition on or about February 8th, 2011. After closing the acquisition agreement, PepsiCo will own approximately 77% of the total outstanding ordinary shares of Wimm-Bill-Dann.

The transaction will make PepsiCo the largest food and beverage business in Russia and will strengthen the group’s position in the fast-growing Eastern European and Central Asian markets. It also will raise PepsiCo’s annual global revenues from nutritious and functional foods from approximately $10b today to nearly $13b. This moves PepsiCo closer to its strategic goal of building a $30b nutrition business by 2020.