Uzbekistan invites bids for its stake in joint venture with Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola Consolidated

18/12/2020 05:47

TASHKENT, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The government of Uzbekistan on
Friday invited potential investors to express interest in its
stake in a joint venture with Coca-Cola  COKE.O  and said
Rothschild was its exclusive advisor for the planned deal.
    The Tashkent government holds a 57.1% stake in Coca-Cola
Ichimligi Uzbekiston, which controls almost a half of the soft
drinks market in the Central Asian nation of 34 million people.
    The company reported a revenue of 1.455 trillion Uzbek sums
(about $160 million) last year, a 46% jump year-on-year, the
government said in a statement.
    It said it would accept letters from would-be bidders by
Dec. 31 and pick the participants of the first stage of the sale
process by Jan. 14. The government provided no guidance on how
much it planned to raise from the sale.

 (Reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov; Writing by Olzhas
Auyezov; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
 ((olzhas.auyezov@thomsonreuters.com; +7 727 2508 500; Reuters
Messaging: olzhas.auyezov.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))