Huiyuan Juice Group Coca-Cola seeks approval

COCA-COLA Co, which has agreed to acquire China's Huiyuan Juice Group, has submitted the application to the Chinese government for anti-trust approval.

The application for anti-trust approval has been filed with the Ministry of Commerce and the review process is progressing, Huiyuan said in a statement filed to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. A final decision is scheduled to be made by March 23 next year.

On September 3, Coca-Cola announced it would offer US$2.4 billion to buy Huiyuan, China's No. 1 pure juice maker. The deal is expected to be Coca-Cola's first acquisition in China and the largest one in China's food and beverage industry.

But the deal also aroused market concerns and triggered opposition among juice and beverage makers on fears of a market monopoly as Huiyuan controls nearly 60 percent of the pure juice segment market.