Ropes & Gray Represents Leading Coca-Cola Bottler in Acquisition of Distribution Rights and Production Facilities in South Florida

Ropes & Gray advised Coca-Cola Beverages Florida, LLC (CCBF) in its acquisition of distribution territories and operations and production facilities in South Florida from The Coca-Cola Company. CCBF is the third-largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler and the fifth-largest independent bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States.   

The firm also advised CCBF in its agreement for a five-year, $550 million senior unsecured credit facility, the proceeds of which were used to finance its acquisitions and for general corporate purposes. The acquisition of the South Florida assets closed Feb. 24.

The firm previously advised CCBF in its October 2016 acquisition of distribution territories and operations and production facilities in North Florida and its May 2015 acquisition of distribution territories and operations in Central Florida from The Coca-Cola Company.

With the completion of these acquisitions, CCBF now employs over 4,500 associates and has operations in 47 counties across North, Central and South Florida, including the major markets of Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville, and is one of the largest privately held companies in the state, with expected annual revenues of more than $1 billion.

The Ropes & Gray deal team included private equity partner Neill Jakobe (Chicago), finance partner Alexander Zeltser (New York), real estate & environmental partner Peter Alpert (Boston) and tax partner Aaron Harsh (Boston).