China's Instant noodle and beverage producer Tinyi Holdigns Corp. is in talks to buy PepsiCo Inc.’s China operations, a Beijing newspaper said.
Talks in the market are saying that Tinyi will either acquire the operational rights of Pepsi’s in China, or purchase a 51 percent of stake of Pepsi’s China unit, the Beijing Times said.
Both Pepsi and Tinyi have not yet to comment on the issue.
Three Chinese owners have sold Pepsi stakes since the start of the year, with China Light Industrial Corp. For Foreign Econ & Tech Co-Operation, Fujian Branch, on track to sell all the 11.1 percent of stake it holds in Pepsi for 13.7 million yuan, as the latest such sell-off.
Analysts suspect weak performance of the Pepsi’s China unit could be the major reason. Pepsi’s Beijing unit registered a revenue loss of more than 37 million yuan in 2009, and 74 million in the first ten months in 2010, according to a company filing.
Net losses for Pepsi’s Shenzhen unit reached 67 million in 2010.