PepsiCo and Unilever Expand Lipton Brand Partnership

PepsiCo and Unilever agree to expand their International partnership for the marketing and distribution of ready-to-drink tea products under the Lipton brand. The new agreement adds 11 countries -- eight in Europe, as well as Korea, Taiwan and South Africa -- to the partnership's existing Lipton ready-to-drink tea business. The agreement builds on the original 1991 Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership (PLTP) North American joint venture that established Lipton as the leading ready-to-drink tea brand in the United States, and on the subsequent 2003 Pepsi Lipton International (PLI) joint venture that currently spans more than 40 countries and has enjoyed strong double-digit volume growth. The new agreement will more than double the volume of the companies' current PLI joint venture and positions both companies to capture more of the growth opportunities associated with the rapidly expanding global ready-to-drink tea market. Each company will continue to own 50 percent of the joint venture, with PepsiCo paying Unilever an undisclosed sum for its share of the businesses in the new markets being transferred.