HK's Swire Pacific buys Coca-Cola bottling operations in Vietnam, Cambodia

Hong Kong-based conglomerate Swire Pacific Ltd said on Monday it would buy the packaging and distribution operations of Coca-Cola in Vietnam and Cambodia, marking its expansion into the Southeast Asian beverages market.

Swire Pacific will pay $1.02 billion in cash for Coca-Cola Indochina, which packages and distributes the beverage in the two Southeast Asian countries.

The firm is buying Coca-Cola Indochina through its Swire Beverages and Swire Coca-Cola units, from Coca-Cola (Japan), which is ultimately owned by Coca-Cola Co.

Swire Coca-Cola bottles the beverage for markets in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and other parts of China and the United States.