Pepsi, Tingyi ink deal for strategic alliance

China's Tingyi Holding Corp. on Friday signed an agreement with global soft drink giant Pepsi to create a strategic business alliance in China. Based on the agreement, Tingyi Holding's affiliate company, Tingyi-Asahi Beverages (TAB) Holding, will be appointed as Pepsi's franchise bottler in China, according to an announcement posted by Tingyi Holding on its website. Pepsi's wholly-owned subsidiary, Far East Bottlers (FEB), will hold a five-percent indirect interest in TAB, and the percentage may increase to 20 percent by 2015. TAB's unaudited net asset value was about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars by the end of the first half of this year, meaning FEB will acquire 55 million U.S. dollars through the deal. The agreement has yet to be approved by China's Ministry of Commerce and Tingyi Holding's board.