Coca-Cola Appoints JPMorgan, Citi for India Bottler IPO

Coca-Cola Appoints JPMorgan, Citi for India Bottler IPO

Quick Reads

• Coca-Cola has hired JPMorgan and Citi to lead the IPO of its Indian bottling arm, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, in a deal that could raise about $1 billion.

• The listing targets a valuation near $10 billion and could happen as early as 2027 on India’s BSE and NSE, though the size and timeline are still being finalized.

• The move follows Coca-Cola’s earlier sale of a 40% stake in the bottler’s parent to the Jubilant Bhartia Group, and comes as the company faces growing competition from Reliance’s Campa Cola.

Coca-Cola has appointed JPMorgan and Citi as lead advisers for the initial public offering of its Indian bottling unit, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), people familiar with the matter said. The move firms up a process that began in early July, when the beverage giant invited banks to pitch for underwriting roles in the proposed listing.

The Coca-Cola bottler IPO expected to raise around $1 billion, with Coca-Cola targeting a valuation near $10 billion for HCCB, according to earlier reporting from Bloomberg. Kotak Mahindra Capital is also working alongside JPMorgan and Citi’s Indian units on the offering. Rothschild & Co, Coca-Cola’s overall adviser on the transaction, is overseeing the selection of the banking syndicate and hosted presentations in London in early August.

The Listing Follows

Headquartered in Bengaluru, HCCB operates 14 manufacturing plants across a dozen states and supplies more than two million retail outlets, employing over 5,000 people. Coca-Cola has said it is exploring listing HCCB’s parent, Hindustan Coca-Cola Holdings, on India’s BSE and National Stock Exchange, with a target date of 2027 pending market conditions and regulatory approval.

The listing follows Coca-Cola’s sale of a 40 percent stake in HCCB’s holding company to the Jubilant Bhartia Group for roughly Rs 12,500 crore, part of the company’s broader asset-light bottling strategy. If completed, the IPO would place HCCB alongside recent multinational listings in India, including Hyundai Motor India’s $3.3 billion offering and LG Electronics India’s $1.3 billion debut, as global companies increasingly tap India’s buoyant capital markets. Coca-Cola also faces stiffer competition from Reliance’s Campa Cola, which has expanded with low-priced offerings, raising the stakes as the group restructures its global bottling operations.

Deliberations on timing, structure and final issue size remain ongoing, and details could still change, the sources cautioned. Coca-Cola and the banks have not publicly commented on the appointments.