Oct 25 (Reuters) - Coca-Cola European Partners is
in advanced talks to acquire Australia's Coca-Cola Amatil
, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday.
Details of the deal, which has not yet been finalised, could
be announced within few days, Bloomberg reported, citing people
familiar with the matter.
Neither company could be reached for comment outside
business hours.
A deal would be the largest acquisition of an Australian
company this year. Coca-Cola Amatil has a current market
capitalisation of A$7.76 billion ($5.54 billion), according to
Refinitiv Eikon data.
Shares in bottler Coca-Cola Amatil were halted on Thursday
pending an announcement on a "potential material transaction".
Rothschild & Co is advising Coca-Cola European Partners and
UBS Group AG is advising the Australian target, a
person with knowledge of the deal told Reuters on Sunday.
Media representatives for Rothschild did not immediately
return requests for comment. UBS declined to comment.
U.S.-based Coca-Cola Co owns a 19.11% stake in
Coca-Cola European Partners, the world's largest independent
bottler of Coca-Cola, Refinitiv data shows.
($1 = 1.4015 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Paulina Duran in Sydney and Rebekah Mathew in
Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely and Lincoln Feast.)