Coca Cola Consolidation
Coca Cola Consolidation
Coca Cola Consolidation
On Saturday, July 9, 1988, Brad Davis, Wharton Class of 1986, was driving his car through West Philadelphia on his way home from his office in Center City. Davis had just finished the management training program at Philadelphia National Bank (PNB) and was promoted to Vice President (which sounded impressive until Davis realized that the bank has hundreds of Vice Presidents). He heard his pager beep and looked at the number. It was a 609 area code, meaning it must be his boss, Dick Murray, Executive Vice-President and head of Eastern Corporate, calling from his house at the New Jersey shore. He pulled over and telephoned Murray. Dick, I just left work, what is up? Davis said. Davis, I have a big deal I need you to work on tomorrow, Murray began. I just met a Senior Vice President for Coca-Cola Enterprises. I told him what I did for a living, and he said that he had just gotten approval from headquarters in Atlanta to build a new state-of-the-art bottling plant in Northeast Philadelphia, and they were looking for debt financing. The reintroduction of Coke Classic and the new Max Headroom commercials have sales growing rapidly, and the bottling company needs to expand. Bottling company? Is there more than one Coca-Cola company? Davis asked. Yes, Murray explained, The Coca-Cola Company (Coke) is the worlds leading marketer of soft drink syrups and concentrates. Through a network of independently-owned bottlers, Coke products are available in more than 155 countries and account for more than 45 percent of all soft drinks sold worldwide, excluding the Soviet Union and China. Coca Cola Enterprises (CCE) is the worlds largest soft drink bottler. CCE bottles and markets the soft drink brands of Coke including Coca-Cola Classic, New Coke, Sprite, Minute Maid, Tab, and Fanta. In most of its territories, CCE also produces and sells soft drink brands of other companies. The exclusive territories of CCE have a population of more than 100 million people in 35 states and Canada. Wow! Davis said. During 1986, Coke decreased its ownership of CCE from 100% to 49% by selling 51% of the common stock of CCE in a public offering. Although Coke no longer owns a majority of CCEs voting stock, the relationship between the two companies remains close. CCE derives most of its revenue from the sale of Coke soft drinks, both companies headquarters are in the same building in Atlanta, and CCEs board of directors includes several officers of Coke. Thats interesting, Davis said. Around the time of Cokes spinoff, I was taking a course on accounting for mergers and acquisitions. About that time the Financial Accounting Standards
______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Brian Bushee at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation, and edited somewhat by Professor Mary E. Barth at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Board (FASB) was proposing a new standard, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 94, to go into effect in 1987. The new standard would require companies to consolidate all majority-owned subsidiaries, including subsidiaries with nonhomogeneous operations, a large minority interest, or a foreign location. Companies were not required to consolidate these subsidiaries prior to SFAS 94. I wonder whether Coke was trying to get around this rule by spinning off CCE. Hmmm, said Murray, thoughtfully. I told the CCE guy that we would love to provide the debt financing for the new plant. But, I think we should first reconsolidate Coke and CCE to decide how risky the combined companies are. My guess is that any debt exposure to CCE is really debt exposure to Coke, who is the virtual parent. The CCE guy is having his Vice President fax their financial statements to our office. Can you get a copy of Cokes financial statements? Sure, said Davis. Great. I want you to compute ratios for Coke and CCE as separate companies and as a consolidated company. I should be back in the office first thing Monday morning, so lets meet then to talk, said Murray. Davis said good-bye and headed back to the office to work. Once in his office at Broad and Chestnut, Davis found a copy of Cokes financial statements (see Exhibit 1) and got CCEs financial statements and list of Board Members from the fax machine (see Exhibits 2 and 3). Then, he got to work.
$916,136
$934,347
ASSETS CURRENT Cash and cash equivalents, at cost (approximates market) Trade accounts receivable, less allowances of $6,140 in 1987 and $5,919 in 1986 Inventories Prepaid expenses and other assets Total Current Assets INVESTMENTS AND OTHER ASSETS PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT Land Buildings and improvements Machinery and equipment Containers Less allowances for depreciation GOODWILL AND OTHER INTANGIBLE ASSETS TOTAL ASSETS LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY CURRENT Accounts payable and accrued expenses Accounts payable to The Coca-Cola Company Loans and notes payable Current maturities of long-term debt Accrued income taxes Total Current Liabilities LONG-TERM DEBT DEFERRED INCOME TAXES OTHER LONG-TERM OBLIGATIONS TOTAL LIABILITIES SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Common stock, $1 par value-Authorized: 500,000,000 shares in 1987 and 1986; Issued: 140,260,000 shares in 1987 and 140,000,000 shares in 1986 Paid-in capital Reinvested earning Less treasury stock, at cost (471,800 shares in 1987) TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Net Operating Revenues Cost of sales (includes purchases from The Coca-Cola Company of approximately $652,800 in 1987, $392,400 in 1986 and $265,400 in 1985) Gross Profit Selling, administrative and general expenses Operating Income Interest income Interest expense Other income (deductions) Income Before Income Taxes Income taxes Net Income
1987 $3,329,134
1985 $1,271,959
1,916,724 1,412,410 1,075,290 337,120 11,566 171,466 (4,445) 172,775 84,403 $88,372
1,137,720 813,288 645,218 168,070 6,327 82,526 (7,101) 84,770 56,978 $27,792
755,709 516,250 431,747 84,503 4,587 31,945 6,483 63,628 27,721 $35,907
COCA-COLA ENTERPRISES INC. Excerpts from Notes To Consolidated Financial Statements 1. Ownership and Reorganization: The Company is the successor to Coca-Cola Bottling Enterprises, Inc., which transferred substantially all of its assets to the Company in September 1986, in a corporate reorganization. In connection with this reorganization, $150 million of cash and accounts receivable were retained by subsidiaries of The Coca-Cola Company. Such Amount is reported as a reduction in reinvested earnings. The Company was a wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company until November 21, 1986, when 51% of the Company's shares were sold by the Company in a public offering. At January 1, 1988, The Coca-Cola Company owned 49% of the Company. 11. Related Party Transactions: The Company and its subsidiaries are licensed bottlers of soft drink products of The Coca-Cola Company. In the ordinary course of business, the Company purchases sweeteners and soft drink syrups and concentrate from and participates in cooperative advertising arrangements with The Coca-Cola Company, resulting in net payments to The Coca-Cola Company of approximately $599 million in 1987, $375 million in 1986 and $258 million in 1985. Other transactions with The Coca-Cola Company were not significant to the operating results of the Company. During 1987, purchases from canning cooperatives in which the Company has investment interests totalled approximately $42 million. Such transactions were not significant in prior years. Certain administrative expenses incurred by The Coca-Cola Company on behalf of the Company are reflected in the accompanying financial statements in the amount of approximately $1.5 million in 1986 and $2 million in 1985.
Case Questions
1. After divesting 51% of CCE, did Coke lose economic control of CCE? Why do you think Coke divested 51% of CCE in 1986? 2. Under SFAS 94, Coke is not required to consolidate CCE because it does not have a majority interest in CCE. However, suppose that you are interested in viewing Coke and CCE as a single economic entity. Prepare consolidated financial statements of Coke and CCE for fiscal 1987. 3. For the year ended December 31, 1987, compute the financial ratios below using Cokes financial statements. Do the same using the financial statements prepared assuming Coke had consolidated CCE. Debt to equity = total debt (current and long-term) ; total equity earnings before interest and taxes interest expense cost of goods sold Inventory turnover = average inventory ; Gross profit margin = gross profit ; sales Times interest earned =
sales Receivables turnover = average receivables Return on sales = net income sales
Return on assets =
4. Are Cokes actual financial statements more or less useful than those prepared assuming Coke had consolidated CCE? Why or why not? 5. Why did Coke record a gain of $375 million in the November 1986 divestiture of CCE? Provide the journal entries that Coke and CCE would have made for this divestiture. 6. In 1987, Coke spun-off Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. Did they give up economic control of Columbia? Would Coke financial statements consolidating Columbia be more or less informative than those presented by Coke?
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