Alliance of Tingyi and PepsiCo approved

Tianjin (CNS) –-  China's Ministry of Commerce approved the strategic alliance of Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp and PepsiCo, Tingyi announced on Friday.

According to the agreement, Tingyi, which owns the Master Kong brand, will swap a five percent stake in its beverage business for PepsiCo's entire bottling operation in China. In exchange, PepsiCo will transfer equity interests in all of its 24 bottling operations in China to Tingyi.

PepsiCo will decide whether to increase its stake from five to twenty percent by 2015.

Chen Gongru, spokesman for Master Kong, said the alliance will integrate their sound distribution network with Pepsi's innovation capability, and enhance the beverage businesses of both brands in China – a win-win deal.

"The approval just marks the start of our cooperation", said Chen, adding follow-up equity exchanges will take more time.

PepsiCo is the world's second-largest food and beverage maker by revenue. Tingyi is the largest instant noodle producer and largest Taiwanese enterprise in China. It specializes in the production and distribution of instant noodles, beverages, baked goods and soft drinks with its brand name, Master Kong.