PepsiCo swoops on Russian dairy and juice giant

The soft drinks giant PepsiCo unveiled a $3.8bn (£2.4bn) push into the growing market for healthy foods yesterday with a deal to take control of Wimm-Bill-Dann, the Russian diary and juice producer.

Pepsi said it had agreed to buy 66 per cent of WBD, which is expected to post $2.6bn in revenues this year. The US group will offer to buy the remaining shares after picking up the controlling stake from a group of shareholders and WBD subsidiaries.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory clearances, will bump Pepsi to the top of the table of food and beverage companies in Russia and bring it closer to its goal of building a $30bn nutrition business by 2020.