Coca-Cola Enterprises’ COO Damian Gamell Takes Office

Zacks

Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.’s CCE new chief operating officer (COO), Damian Gammell, begins his tenure effective immediately. The company announced the appointment on Aug 6.

Before joining Coca-Cola Enterprises, Gammell served as the president and CEO of the Turkey-based beverage company, Anadolu Beverage Group. He also worked with The Coca-Cola Company KO as head of operations in Russia and Germany. He, thus, has vast experience regarding leading beverage players as well as the European market.

On the same day that Coca-Cola Enterprises announced Gammell’s appointment, the Western European bottler of The Coca-Cola Company announced a merger agreement with two other European bottlers — Coca-Cola Iberian Partners and Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke AG — to form a Western European bottler, named Coca-Cola European Partners.

Coca-Cola Iberian Partners is a privately held Coke bottler that caters to Spain and Portugal. Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetränke AG, on the other hand, is a German beverage company owned by The Coca-Cola Company.

Coca-Cola Enterprises will hold 48% stake in the new bottling company, which will be the largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in terms of revenues. Coca-Cola Iberian Partners will own 34%, while The Coca-Cola Company will get the remaining 18% in the new bottler.

With its increased scale, Coca-Cola European Partners should realize substantial synergies from supply chain savings and better operating efficiencies. The synergies are estimated to result in annualized pre-tax savings of $350–$375 million within three years of closing.

Coca-Cola European Partners will be headquartered at London and trade on the Euronext Amsterdam, the New York Stock Exchange and the Madrid Stock Exchange.

Coca-Cola Enterprises has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A couple of better-ranked beverage stocks are Primo Water Corporation PRMW and Heineken NV HEINY, both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply