Coca-Cola Nears Completion Of U.S. Refranchising Plan

(RTTNews) - Coca-Cola Co. (KO) said that it is moving closer to completing the refranchising of its Company-owned territories in the United States.

Coca-Cola Refreshments executives Paul Mulligan and Fran McGorry are joining together to form a new bottling company called Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages LLC. They have signed a letter of intent for territories that include metropolitan New York, Philadelphia, most of the state of New Jersey and part of Delaware, plus four production facilities. This area is known as the Tri-State Metro Operating Unit of Coca-Cola Refreshments, which is a unit of The Coca-Cola Company.

Mulligan has served as president of Coca-Cola Refreshments since 2014. His previous experience in the system includes leadership roles in operations around the world. He will be co-owner of the new Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages.

McGorry is president of the Tri-State Metro Operating Unit. He will be co-owner of Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages and will continue to be the top executive in charge of the territory. Prior to his current role, McGorry's career included serving as president of the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. He is a native of Philadelphia and has strong, local connections throughout the Tri-State area.

The Coca-Cola Company said it remains on track to complete refranchising of its U.S. territories by the end of 2017. There are agreements or letters of intent for 100% of the U.S. territories of Coca-Cola Refreshments.

Including the Tri-State Metro Operating Unit, the Company has reached definitive agreements or signed letters of intent to refranchise bottling territories that account for approximately 80% of total U.S. bottler-delivered distribution volume, which equates to approximately 90% of total Coca-Cola Refreshments volume in North America.

With this new letter of intent, 100% of the U.S. territory of CCR is under agreement. The Company also has reached definitive agreements or signed letters of intent for all 51 cold-fill production facilities in the United States. The Tri-State Metro Operating Unit has production facilities in Philadelphia, Moorestown, N.J., Maspeth, N.Y., and Elmsford, N.Y.