You say you’re “not buying CCE,” but you’re acquiring CCE’s North American operations – as noted in the [press release ] — can you explain this?
We are not buying CCE. Rather, we are acquiring CCE’s North American bottling operations to focus our core operational strengths and resources to more profitably deliver the world’s greatest brands. With the expansion of its European business, CCE remains one of our key bottling partners with world-class management, financial and operational capabilities. In North America, we are organizing our system to better market and distribute North America’s fastest growing and most advantaged beverage portfolio. In Europe, we are enhancing our bottling network to provide broader geographic coverage and optimize our marketing and distribution advantages.
