PepsiAmericas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Illinois Central Industries
IC Industries
Whitman Corporation
PepsiAmericas
legal form
founding 1962
resolution 2010
Reason for dissolution Takeover by PepsiCo.
Seat Chicago
Rolling Meadows
Minneapolis

PepsiAmericas was a US holding company, beverage company and the second largest Pepsi bottler in the world.

The company was founded in 1962 as Illinois Central Industries , traded as IC Industries from 1975 to 1988 , then as Whitman Corporation until 2000 and was bought by Pepsi in 2010.

history

After the Second World War, aviation and trucking created strong competition with the railroad companies in North America. In view of falling sales and profits, as well as poor future prospects in rail traffic, many rail companies began to look for other business models. Due to the regulatory requirements, the railway companies were not allowed to invest in other branches of the economy. The solution was therefore to found a holding company to which the profits and free financial resources of the railway company were transferred and which could thus invest in other areas. For this reason, Illinois Central Industries Inc. was founded on August 31, 1962, which acted as the holding company of the Illinois Central Railroad . The company had sales of approximately $ 300 million. In addition to diversification, a merger in the rail sector and the development of the basic assets were also intended. With the 1972 merger of the Illinois Central with the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad (GM&O) to the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, one of the goals was achieved. As a result, the railway company was optimized with regard to the route network and operating result.

In 1968, development of the Illinois Center real estate project began on the former railroad site within downtown Chicago.

The first major step towards diversification was the acquisition of the auto parts and hydraulics manufacturer Abex Corporation in 1968 . In 1970 the beverage manufacturer Pepsi -Cola General Bottlers (Pepsi General) followed, which bottled beverages under license from PepsiCo . The company had the concessions for Chicago, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Louisville. In 1972, the automotive workshop chain Midas International Corporation was bought. As a result of these acquisitions, the company name was changed to IC Industries in 1975.

In 1978 the food company and dry milk manufacturer Pet Inc. was bought with its subsidiary Hussmann Corporation (cooling systems). The two companies became equal group companies. Pet also owned the chocolate maker Whitman's . In the years that followed, Pet's corporate portfolio was cleaned up to include less profitable lines. In 1981 the aerospace and hydraulic company Pneumo Corporation was acquired and merged with Abex Corporation to form Pneumo Abex Corporation.

In 1987, William B. Johnson , who had been in charge of the group and had played a major role in shaping it , retired in 1987 . Group sales had grown to around $ 4 billion. Under his successor Karl D. Bays , the company decided to concentrate on the area of ​​consumer goods and services and to sell companies that did not fit into this strategy. As a result, the Pneumo Abex Corporation was sold in 1988 and at the end of 1988 the Illinois Central Railroad was separated from the group and became independent. Most of the holdings in the real estate sector were also sold. These changes prompted the company to change its name to Whitman Corporation on December 1, 1988, after the well-known Whitman’s chocolate brand .

As part of this realignment, RKO Bottling Inc. was taken over as another beverage bottler and PepsiCo. took a 20% stake in Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers in order to increase the company's capacity and expand further market shares. Many other companies in the food sector were also acquired.

Bays' successor Cozad tried to reduce the group companies further. The sale of Hussmann initially failed because an adequate price was not achieved. Finally, on April 1, 1991, Pet Inc. became independent. At the same time an attempt was made to reduce the accumulated debt of 1.9 billion dollars through a wave of layoffs.

From 1995 Pepsi General began to expand into Eastern Europe (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) and Russia.

On January 30, 1998, Midas International and Hussmann were separated from the group and Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers remained as the only important company in the group.

In January 1999, new concession agreements were signed with PepsiCo. Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers was or remained a supplier for Eastern Europe and for Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio in the United States. The Virginia, West Virginia and Russia concessions were given to PepsiCo. At the same time, PepsiCo ended its stake in Pepsi General, but took a 40% stake in Whitman Corporation. At the time, the company was the world's second largest Pepsi bottler.

In November 2000, Whitman Corporation acquired PepsiAmericas for $ 331.7 million. PepsiAmericas was formed in 1998 through the acquisition of Pepsi-Cola Puerto Rico Bottling Company by the Minneapolis-based family company Pohlad Companies and the merger with their subsidiaries Delta Beverage Group and Dakota Beverage Company. The company was the third largest Pepsi bottler in the world. It served markets in Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and parts of Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. It was also licensed by Cadbury Schweppes and the Miller Brewery . Together, the merged company had a market share of 20–21%. In the wake of the corporate merger, the Whitman Corporation was renamed PepsiAmericas in January 2001.

As a result, the company expanded in Central America and Eastern Europe, including Romania and Ukraine. In the spring of 2010, PepsiAmericas merged with the PepsiCo subsidiary Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company.

Company headquarters

Corporate governance

Chief Executive Officer and President

Chairman of the Board

  • 1962-1967: Wayne A. Johnston
  • 1967-1987: William B. Johnson
  • 1987 – November 1989: Karl D. Bays
  • 1989-1992: James W. Cozad
  • May 1992 – November 2000: Bruce S. Chelberg
  • January 2002–2010: Robert Pohlad

subsidiary company

The group included the following subsidiaries, which may have other subsidiaries:

  • Illinois Central Railroad (1962–1988)
  • Abex Corporation (1968–1988)
  • Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers (1970-2010)
  • Midas International Corporation (1972–1998)
  • Pet Inc. (1978-1991); Whitman Chocolates, Old El Paso, Progresso
  • Hussmann Corporation (1978–1998)
  • Pneumo Corporation (1981–1988)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ IC Industries Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2018 .
  2. ^ IC Industries: a diversified success . May 4, 1986 ( highbeam.com [accessed April 23, 2018]). IC Industries: a diversified success ( Memento of the original from April 23, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.highbeam.com
  3. ^ IC Industries selects a new name: Whitman (yes, as in the sampler) . September 20, 1988 ( highbeam.com [accessed April 23, 2018]). IC Industries selects a new name: Whitman (yes, as in the Sampler) ( Memento of the original from April 23, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.highbeam.com
  4. ^ Reuters: Whitman to Spin Off Midas and Hussman Units . In: The New York Times . June 24, 1997, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed April 23, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Kenneth N. Gilpin: 2 of Biggest Pepsi Bottlers Reach $ 331 Million Deal . In: The New York Times . August 22, 2000, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed April 23, 2018]).
  6. ↑ PepsiAmericas accepts sweetened offer, sells to PepsiCo. Retrieved April 23, 2018 .