The Board of Directors of Varun Beverages Limited has approved its intent to enter into a binding agreement to acquire franchise rights from SMV Group in the State of Karnataka (13 districts), Maharashtra (14 districts) and Madhya Pradesh (3 districts), subject to the satisfactory completion of due diligence and other approvals including final approval of PepsiCo. These rights had previously been franchised by PepsiCo to SMV Group. Upon completion of these acquisitions, company will be a franchisee of PepsiCo products across 22 States and 2 Union Territories of India. These are highly under-penetrated regions and provide huge opportunity for increasing volumes and gaining market share. The proposed acquisition is in line with the company's strategy to expand into contiguous territories to garner better operating leverage and asset utilization through economies of scale.