After conquering Latin America, Mexican beverage and retail giant Fomento Economico Mexicano (FEMSA) now has its sight on Europe. According to Bloomberg, FEMSA just made $1.2 billion for Swiss retail holding company Valora.
Valora has retail, services, and trade operations throughout Central Europe. Its retail division consists of convenience stores, kiosks, and other small-outlet retail units that sell consumer staples, press products, and items aimed at the impulse purchase market. It is also known for its artisan pretzel business, which recently started expanding across America.
After the news about the FEMSA takeover broke out, Valora’s stock jumped more than 50 percent. It closed at 171.00CHF ($176.35) on Monday before surging to 259.00CHF ($267.11) on Tuesday.
While the deal is yet to be closed, a potential sale seems imminent. Valora’s board is in support of the deal and has recommended it unanimously to the shareholders.
FEMSA is the largest independent Coca-Cola bottling group in the world. On top of that, the company also operates more than 20,000 convenience stores in Mexico and the rest of Latin America. It has a pharmacy chain with close to 4,000 locations and is the second-largest shareholder of Dutch brewing company Heineken.
“The transaction announced today will significantly move us to become a more global platform,” said Femsa’s CEO Daniel Rodriguez via Yahoo Finance.