Coca-Cola India & South West Asia appoints VP for M&A and new ventures
Harsh Bhutani appointed as the VP, finance (CFO), effective from 1 August 2019Sarvita Sethi is appointed as the news VP, M&A for the company
New Delhi: Beverage company, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia, on Tuesday said it has appointed Sarvita Sethi as vice-president, mergers and acquisitions, and new ventures in a move that will see the beverage maker expand beyond selling sugary drinks to enter more refreshment categories, and even pursue emerging opportunities in the region.
“We believe there are significant opportunities that lie ahead of us to grow our portfolio and meaningfully penetrate the market," T. Krishnakumar, president, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia said in a statement. Coca-Cola’s portfolio in India spans Thums Up, Limca, Coke, Sprite, Minute Maid, Fanta, Kinley, Georgia among others.
Sethi, earlier vice president finance India and South West Asia will provide leadership to business incubation by creating alternate revenue streams in new ventures in her new role. She will also continue to lead the M&A priorities for our business in India and South West Asia, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
To be sure, Coca-Cola set up the new ventures department in India last year as part of its global plans to bolster fresh revenue streams by growing new businesses both internally, as well as, through acquisitions. In 2018, the company agreed to buy British coffee chain Costa Coffee to grow beyond selling packaged beverages.
Interestingly, acquisitions marked the re-entry for the beverage maker in India in the early 90s, after it bought beverage brands Thums Up, Maaza, Limca, Citra and Gold Spot from Ramesh Chauhan’s Parle Bisleri.
Additionally, the company also announced the appointment of Harsh Bhutani as vice president, finance (CFO), Coca-Cola India & South West Asia, effective 1 August 2019. Bhutani, who currently heads finance and business services divisions for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages — the bottling arm of the beverage maker—as executive director and chief financial officer and has held various finance positions at the company.
Headquartered in Gurgaon, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia manages the businesses in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan. It sells popular beverage brands such as Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Maaza, VIO flavoured milk Minute Maid, FUZE tea, Kinley drinking water etc. In India, it sells these brands through 2.6 million outlets and functions along with owned bottling plants as well as bottling partners.
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