Coca Cola has moved to further strengthen its global reach by announcing plans to buy Huiyuan Juice Group for $2.4 billion, the US soft drink maker's biggest acquisition in China.
The deal, which Chinese authorities have yet to approve, is part of the drive by the world's largest soft drink maker to buy up juice, water and other non-carbonated drink producers around the globe to diversify its product lines.
Coca Cola and its rival PepsiCo do not release China-specific sales figures.
But Coca Cola is believed to be the market leader in carbonated drinks, while Chinese drink maker Wahaha dominates the non-carbonated drink segment.
As part of its global efforts to expand beyond carbonated drinks, Coca-Cola acquired Russian juice business Multon in 2005 and Mexico's Jugos del Valle last year.
The acquisition of Huiyuan would be Coca-Cola's second largest after it bought specialist water and energy drinks maker Energy Brands, known as Glaceau, for $4.1 billion last year.
However, the deal still requires approval by Chinese regulators, and they have been reluctant to approve some recent foreign acquisitions.
US private equity firm Carlyle Group abandoned a three-year attempt to buy a stake in Chinese construction machinery maker Xugong Group after regulators failed to approve the deal.
