Varun Beverages, one of PepsiCo’s largest bottling partners outside the US, announced its Board decision to buy South African soft drink maker Twizza Proprietary Ltd in a cash deal valued at 2,095 million rand, or about Rs 1,118.7 crore.
The company, in its regulatory statement on Sunday, said that its Board cleared the transaction, with the acquisition to be routed through its South African subsidiary, The Beverages Company Proprietary Ltd (Bevco), and targeted for completion by June 30 2026, subject to competition and other regulatory approvals in South Africa, Botswana and Eswatini.
At market open on Monday, Varun Beverages shares spiked 2 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 479 apiece on the NSE
Varun Beverages said Bevco will acquire 100 per cent of Twizza’s share capital, making it a step‑down subsidiary once the deal closes. The enterprise value of 2,095 million rand (about Rs 1,118.7 crore at an exchange rate of 1 rand to Rs 5.34) will be paid entirely in cash.
Founded in 2003, Twizza manufactures and distributes its own branded non‑alcoholic beverages, including carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks, functional drinks and mixers.
It currently operates three manufacturing plants at Cape Town, Queenstown and Middelburg with a combined installed capacity of about 100 million 8‑ounce cases a year, supported by backward‑integration facilities at all three locations, including five preform lines and one closure line.
For the financial year ended 30 June 2025, Twizza reported net revenue of 1,689 million rand (about Rs 901.9 crore) and sales volumes of around 71 million 8‑ounce cases, with the last three years showing steady growth from 1,551 million rand in FY 2022–23 to 1,641 million rand in FY 2023–24 and then 1,689 million rand in FY 2024–25.
Varun Beverages expects the deal to expand its African footprint beyond its existing Pepsi‑franchise markets, where it already bottles and distributes PepsiCo drinks in countries such as Morocco, Zambia and Zimbabwe, alongside its presence across 27 Indian states and seven Union Territories.
In a board presentation, the company doubled down on the importance of the deal, stating that South Africa is Africa’s largest soft drinks market with one of the continent’s highest per‑capita consumption of carbonated drinks, highlighting favourable demographics, roughly 70 per cent urbanisation and relatively low inflation and interest rates as supporting factors.
Twizza’s strong presence in South Africa and neighbouring Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana and Namibia is expected to give Varun Beverages a ready‑made platform of owned local brands, capacity and distribution to build on.