Best in Class: Pepsi's Plan for Global Domination

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Last August, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) announced what would become one of the most highly discussed deals in the business world: the $7.8 billion acquisition of its two largest bottlers -- Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas.

Completed in March, the deal has been hailed as one of Pepsi's shrewdest business moves. "With consumers in North America migrating from soda to healthier beverages, we think that owning its bottlers should allow Pepsi to be nimble in its route to market and give it the ability to react quickly to shifting consumer tastes," Morningstar analyst Philip Gorham recently said in an equity research report.

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