Bluebird Foods Purchased by PepsiCo

08/12/06 PepsiCo Australia, the Australian business unit of PepsiCo International, announced the acquisition of Bluebird Foods, New Zealand's snack market leader, for NZ$245 million (US$169 million; A$214 million). PepsiCo Australia comprises The Smith's Snackfood Company, Sakata Rice Snacks and Pepsi Beverages Australia.

Established more than 50 years ago, Bluebird is one of New Zealand's most highly-regarded food brands. It has the leading position in major salty snack segments, including potato chips, corn snacks, extruded snacks and multigrain snacks. It also is the leader in the fruit and snack bar segments.

"We're delighted to be teaming up with Bluebird," said Alex Stevens, managing director of PepsiCo Australia, the PepsiCo International unit into which Bluebird's leadership team will report. "It is an outstanding business with excellent growth potential. I believe all our companies in the region will benefit by this new alliance, and I want to welcome all our Bluebird colleagues to PepsiCo." The transaction includes several market-leading brands, including Bluebird and Krispa, a strong distribution system and two manufacturing facilities, located in Auckland and Timaru. Bluebird employs approximately 600 people.

Bluebird is being purchased from Burns, Philp & Company. PepsiCo will assume control of the business in January. PepsiCo International comprises all of the businesses outside the United States and Canada of PepsiCo, one of the world's largest food and beverage companies. PepsiCo's portfolio includes 17 brands that each generate retail sales in excess of U.S. $1 billion (A$1.3 billion; NZ$1.5 billion), including Pepsi, Lay's, Doritos, Gatorade, Tropicana, and Quaker.