"est!" – Vad tusan är det?

[Bkk]

Jag är ingen större anhängare av läskedrycker, men det kan knappast undgått någon att Pepsi har varit det dominerande märket i Thailand på senare år, t o m vanligare än Coca-cola.

Plötsligt har ett nytt märke kommit fram på marknaden som kallas “est”. Samtidigt verkar det som Pepsi nästan försvunnit. Här verkar vara politik på hög nivå bakom? Någon som har koll på läskedrycksbranschen?

Om jag någon gång drack en läsk tidigare var det just Pepsi, men den här “est” är direkt vidrig i smaken. Nästan värre än Big Cola t ex. Men det är mer en personlig reflektion.

[Nille]

Kul Arne, du förekom mig!! Jag har tänkt ställa samma fråga i ett par veckor nu 🙂

Jag har inte hunnit forska i det men är inne på samma linje som dig. Pepsis partner måste ha dragit sig ur och startat eget. Distributionsnätet är ju klart. Luktar Carlsberg/Chang här..

[goodolle]

@Nille wrote:

Kul Arne, du förekom mig!! Jag har tänkt ställa samma fråga i ett par veckor nu 🙂

Jag har inte hunnit forska i det men är inne på samma linje som dig. Pepsis partner måste ha dragit sig ur och startat eget. Distributionsnätet är ju klart. Luktar Carlsberg/Chang här..

Helt rätt Nille.
Pepsi var den ledande drycken i Thai och nu har Serm Suk som sagt upp avtalet med Pepsi att ta över detta med en egen skit produkt EST, smakar hemskt.
Kan inte hitta deras hemsida så ni får höja er med detta. Politik och pengar på högsta nivå som frugan säger och är en Pepsi lover.

Company Information

Full name
Serm Suk PCL

Headquarters
Muangthai-Phatra Complex Bldg1, 252/35- 36 Rajadapisek Road, Huay Kwang; Bangkok , Special Governed District of ; Central Thailand; 10310

Status: Listed
Legal Form: Public Limited Company
Operational Status: Operational
ISIN CODE : TH0009010Z01
Financial Auditors: KPMG Phoomchai Audit Limited (2011)
Incorporation Date: January 1, 1952
Total Employees: 9,527

Tel: (662) 6932255-65

Company Description

The Company operates the beverage business, both as a manufacturer and distributor.Serm Suk Beverage Co., Ltd., which manufactures and co-packs Lipton Ice Tea Gatorade, and Tropicana Twister fruit juice and sells directly. Net profi t for 2007 stated in the Consolidated Profi t and Loss Statement at Baht 330.7 million, a reduction of Baht 190.1 million from the previous year. Major reasons for profi t reduction were the shortfall of soft drink sales volume and the increases of production costs and

More

According to the Consolidated – Audited financial statement for the first two cumulated quarters of 2012, total net operating revenues increased with 10.35%, from THB 11,655,364 thousands to THB 12,861,279 thousands. Operating result increased from THB 294,897 thousands to THB 1,084,918 thousands which means 267.90% change. The results of the period increased 298.93% reaching THB 880,925 thousands at the end of the period against THB 220,820 thousands last year. Return on equity (Net income/Total equity) went from 2.48% to 9.32%, the Return On Asset (Net income / Total Asset) went from 1.66% to 6.16% and the Net Profit Margin (Net Income/Net Sales) went from 1.89% to 6.85% when compared to the same period of last year. The Debt to Equity Ratio (Total Liabilities/Equity) was 51.15% compared to 49.23% of last year. Finally, the Current Ratio (Current Assets/Current Liabilities) went from 1.59 to 1.72 when compared to the previous year.

Hälsningar goodolle

[Nille]

Det är en katastrof att de kan hålla på så här de thailändska multimiljonföretagen snacka om att bita sig själva i svansen. Man tänker inte längre än så långt näsan räcker. Om utländska företag skall behöva räkna med att detta händer kan det bli ett ganska trist klimat.

Dessutom. Man börjar ju fatta varför utländska företag inte kan äga alla sina aktier själva. De skiter ju i oss småföretagare, det är ju de stora fiskarna de vill åt.

Men Pepsi var ju ett amerikanskt företag så det förvånar mig något iaf… Eller det kanske var ömsesidigt (men det kan jag inte tro)

Näst på tur: 7-Eleven? Knappast 7-Eleven som står på hyreskontrakten.

[Sabai]

Nu är det nog inte riktigt så som ni tror för i detta fall är det faktiskt Pepsi USA som ställde till problem när de la ett fientligt bud på Serm Suk Pcl. Detta fick till följd att Serm Suk Pcl sa upp avtalet.

“THE BREAKUP

Pepsi has a long history in Thailand, entering the market in 1952 with Serm Suk at its side. But the relationship shifted in 2010 when Pepsi and its joint-venture partner Strategic Beverages launched a hostile takeover bid.

Pepsi’s group failed to acquire the targeted number of shares and dropped the tender. ThaiBev’s Charoen later bought Pepsi’s stake.

By January 2011, Serm Suk’s board was developing plans for how it might operate without Pepsi, according to documents filed with the securities exchange. Their exclusive bottling agreement was terminated in April 2011, and the two officially parted ways on November 1, 2012.

Serm Suk’s “Future Business Plan” laid out two scenarios, one in which the company continued its Pepsi partnership, and one that envisioned a future flying solo, according to the filings.

Under the standalone scenario, the plan called for expanding its offering of non-carbonated drinks such as juices; building up the drinking water business; distributing more food and drinks – and making carbonated soft drinks under a different brand.

“There’s a very good chance that est cola will become the number two cola brand in Thailand after Coca-Cola, pushing Pepsi to third place,” said Pragrom Pathomboorn, an analyst at KGI Securities in Bangkok.

Pepsi declined to comment on why its non-compete clause expired immediately upon conclusion of the Serm Suk deal. It was not clear whether Coke or other companies also have non-compete clauses that run only through the life of the contract.”

Pepsi bygger en ny fabrik i Rayong så de är snart tillbaka i butikerna

[BengtEk]

Kanske dags att lansera Verve i Thailand då?? 💡

http://bengtek.vemma.eu

[Danne_BKK]

@Bkk wrote:

Jag är ingen större anhängare av läskedrycker, men det kan knappast undgått någon att Pepsi har varit det dominerande märket i Thailand på senare år, t o m vanligare än Coca-cola.

Plötsligt har ett nytt märke kommit fram på marknaden som kallas “est”. Samtidigt verkar det som Pepsi nästan försvunnit. Här verkar vara politik på hög nivå bakom? Någon som har koll på läskedrycksbranschen?

Om jag någon gång drack en läsk tidigare var det just Pepsi, men den här “est” är direkt vidrig i smaken. Nästan värre än Big Cola t ex. Men det är mer en personlig reflektion.

Själv gillar jag Est, har en mer tydlig vaniljton i smaken, bättre än pepsi :thumbright:

[Nille]

Tack Sabai för att du grävde fram lite mer information. Om man är konspiratoriskt lagd undrar man om det inte var för just detta som man försökte ta över bolaget. Man visste att distributionsnätet hängde löst? Det finns ju ingen affärsetik på dessa nivåer… Inte i Thailand och verkligen inte i US.

[goodolle]

Chang ägarna var tydligen inblandad som vanligt.

Thai Beverage–whose brands include Chang beer

By Oranan Paweewun

— Thai Beverage seeks to acquire Thailand soft-drink maker Serm Suk for US$513 million

— PepsiCo agrees to sell 41.5% stake in Serm Suk to Thai Beverage

— Thai Beverage share price falls 3.7%; analyst says purchase price “very expensive”

— Serm Suk shares end down 7.3%, just below offer price

(Adds Thai Beverage President and CEO comment in sixth, seventh paragraphs and Serm Suk major shareholder has no plan to sell stake in eighth paragraph)

SINGAPORE (MarketWatch) — Thai Beverage PCL (Y92.SG) Friday said it has made an offer to acquire Bangkok-listed soft-drink maker Serm Suk PCL , which is partly owned by PepsiCo Inc. PEP +1.05% , for US$513 million as the Singapore-listed company seeks to expand its nonalcoholic production lines.

Thai Beverage–whose brands include Chang beer, Sangsom rum and the Oishi chain of Japanese restaurants–is looking to acquire 265.9 million shares of Serm Suk at THB58 each through a voluntary tender offer, which will run from Sept. 15 to Oct. 19, and will fund the acquisition with cash through debt financing.

Serm Suk said in a separate statement Friday that PepsiCo. has agreed to sell its 41.5% stake in the company for THB6.41. billion, or US$213 million, through the voluntary offer. It did not specify if other major shareholders, which include SS National Logistics Co., Ltd, had agreed to sell their holdings of Serm Suk.

Thai Beverage said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange the acquisition will allow it “to expand the non-alcoholic product portfolio and broaden (its) logistic network to traditional trade”. Thai Beverage also said the purchase provides it with an efficient returnable bottle system.

Serm Suk, which was established in 1952, had been an exclusive distributor of Pepsi brands and only terminated its contracts with the U.S. beverage giant in April this year after the two groups failed to agree on terms of a new contract. However, Serm Suk agreed to continue distributing PepsiCo products until November next year.

Thai Beverage President and Chief Executive Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi told reporters that the Serm Suk will consider renewing the PepsiCo contract when the distribution deal expires.

There are no plans to delist Serm Suk from the Thailand stock market following the tender offer, he added.

Meanwhile, Sakchai Tanaboonchai, a shareholder in SS National Logistics Co., said his group won’t sell its 32.62% stake in Serm Suk. It is a long-term investment, he added.

Thai Beverage’s shares ended 3.7% lower at S$0.26, compared with a 1.1% fall in the benchmark Straits Times Index. An analyst at an foreign brokerage said at 35 times price-to-equity it “seems to be a very expensive price to pay for a mature business.”

Serm Suk’s shares ended Friday down 7.3% to THB57.25, just below the suitor’s offer price.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/thai-beverage-to-buy-pepsi-partner-serm-suk-2011-09-09

Hälsningar goodolle

[jjonsson]

Reuters hade en intressant artikel kring detta.

The day after PepsiCo Inc’s bottling deal in Thailand expired, its partner of 59 years launched its own soft drink that has knocked Pepsi off store shelves.

Serm Suk Pcl, backed by the billionaire owner of Thai Beverage Pcl, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, said its new soda called “est” garnered 19 percent of Thailand’s $1.8 billion cola market in just two months following its November 2 launch.

Pepsi’s breakup with its bottler meant it also lost access to Serm Suk’s vast distribution network, which delivers drinks to about 200,000 stores, restaurants and vending machines serving Thailand’s market of 67 million people.

The two companies had a non-compete clause that expired when their contract ended on November 1. Pepsi has similar non-compete clauses with bottlers in other markets such as China, but the decision backfired in Thailand.

The following day, est hit the market, costing about the same as Pepsi and sold in the same bottles, with a red, white and blue logo reminiscent of Pepsi’s. Pepsi declined to comment on whether it was pursuing any trademark violation claim.

“We did not deliberately set out to push Pepsi off the shelves but we have a very strong distribution network and if we stop distributing for one company, that company’s products will disappear from the shelves,” Pragnee Chaipidej, advertising manager at Serm Suk, said in an interview.

She declined to comment on similarities of est to Pepsi.

Thailand was one of the few countries where Pepsi’s cola drink outsold arch-rival Coca-Cola Co’s, but Coke caught up in 2011 and built a lead last year, according to data from research firm Euromonitor International.

Euromonitor’s figures show Pepsi’s share of the cola market dipped by 2.6 percentage points to 36.1 percent in 2012, compared with Coke’s 40.1 percent. Est, a name that has no meaning in Thai but was intended as a play on superlatives such as “biggest” or “tastiest”, debuted at 2.1 percent even though it was available for only two months of the year.

“We welcome competition, and short-term fluctuation in market share is not our barometer for success,” said Jeff Dahncke, senior communications director at PepsiCo in Purchase, New York.

Pepsi has opened a $170 million bottling plant in Rayong, 179 kilometers southeast of Bangkok, which it said can produce enough drinks to serve every consumer in Thailand. It partnered with Deutsche Post AG’s DHL for distribution. Dahncke said the first phase of distribution, which involves getting drinks into chain stores, was in place. The next phase is smaller mom-and-pop shops.

The Thailand trouble stands in contrast to PepsiCo’s global performance, which has propelled its shares to their highest level since 2008. The company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results last week and raised its dividend.

Much of its recent success stems from a turnaround in its North American operations, which account for half of the company’s global revenue, and strong growth in sales of food. The Middle East, Asia and Africa unit contributed only about 10 percent of total revenue in 2012. The company does not break out figures for Thailand.

Pepsi uses its own distribution for snacks in Thailand, so that business is unaffected. But its soft drinks aren’t reaching the same market as they were before the Serm Suk partnership ended.

“What we have seen is a major drop in distribution and availability of Pepsi products,” said Shakir Moin, Coca-Cola’s marketing director for Southeast Asia.

Customers have also noticed Pepsi’s absence from restaurant menus and store shelves, and this has become a hot topic of discussion on blog posts and social media.

“It’s pretty much impossible to find a bottle of Pepsi these days,” said Itiporn Lakarnchua who works for an English-language radio station in Bangkok, adding that est tasted “much sweeter and more peppery” than Pepsi or Coke.

THE BREAKUP

Pepsi has a long history in Thailand, entering the market in 1952 with Serm Suk at its side. But the relationship shifted in 2010 when Pepsi and its joint-venture partner Strategic Beverages launched a hostile takeover bid.

[Author]

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