Coca-Cola bought Dorna mineral waters for 39 million euros, much more than mentioned by the market speculations.
The value of the transaction was made public a year after the moment the two parties struck a deal.
Coca-Cola took over all the Dorna Apemin SA brands and products, i.e. White Spring, Poiana Negri and Dorna Ape Minerale (Dorna Mineral Waters).
Dorna is one of the top players on the mineral waters market, with a 13% share. The Dorna business was created by Jean Valvis, a Swiss entrepreneur. He teamed up with a banker friend and with Societe Generale Romania Fund and created the Dorna brand, which includes mineral waters and dairy products.
"I knew it would go well and I think it will go even better. I created Dorna myself, I did not inherit it, I selected it as a spring because I knew it was extraordinary. Selling it was actually selling part of my past to invest in the future," Jean Valvis told Ziarul Financiar.
Dorna mineral waters have started to show in Coca-Cola's sales figures.
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC), Coca-Cola's bottler announced Dorna mineral waters and Switzerland-based Valser, acquired last year, as well, accounted for 2% of CCHBC's sales in Q1.
At the same time Dorna sales along with new product launches led to a double digit growth in the company's sales volume in Romania. The takeover of the Dorna mineral waters was done by CCHBC and The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), with CCHBC contributing 19.5 million euros to the total price paid.
Valvis is planning to use the money he got from the deal with Coca-Cola to focus on the dairy business, namely on the LaDorna brand.
Still, he did not sever all the ties with the brand he created. Valvis says he is now providing consulting services to Coca-Cola in this regard.
Although having been bought in August last year, the Dorna mineral waters have not been promoted in any way until recently and have not been presented as held by Coca-Cola. The company, however, has recently started to promote the brand through an advertising campaign.
Mugurel Radulescu, PR manager with CCHBC Romania says that for now, the company is preoccupied with integrating Dorna in the Coca-Cola system. claudia.covaci@zf.ro
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