Varun Beverages Ltd (VBL), PepsiCo’s largest bottler outside the United States and majority-owned by the Jaipuria family, is accelerating its African growth strategy through the acquisition of Twizza Proprietary Limited, a leading South African beverage company.
The transaction will be executed via VBL’s South African subsidiary, Bevco, granting VBL control of three Twizza manufacturing facilities located in Cape Town, Queenstown, and Middelburg. These plants will significantly enhance VBL’s production capacity and distribution capabilities in Southern Africa.
Twizza’s Operations and Performance
Twizza is a well-established producer and distributor of non-alcoholic beverages, operating a fully backward-integrated production system that includes five preform lines and a closure line, ensuring efficiency and cost control. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, Twizza reported ZAR 1.689 billion (approximately $113 million) in revenue and sold around 71 million 8-ounce cases, underscoring its strong market presence.
The acquisition is expected to close by June 30, 2026, subject to regulatory approvals in South Africa, Botswana, and Eswatini. Post-completion, Twizza will operate as a subsidiary of VBL, further consolidating VBL’s position in the African beverage market.
Africa: A Key Growth Engine
Africa continues to drive VBL’s international expansion. While domestic volumes in India remained flat during the first nine months of 2025 due to adverse weather conditions, international volumes grew by 9%, largely fueled by African markets. This growth contributed to a 56.7% gross margin in Q3 CY2025, supported by a higher water sales mix and efficiencies from backward integration.
VBL’s African footprint spans Morocco, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with distribution rights in Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, and Madagascar. The company is also establishing a wholly owned subsidiary in Kenya to enable local manufacturing and distribution.
Diversification and Operational Resilience
Beyond PepsiCo beverages, VBL has entered an exclusive distribution agreement with Carlsberg Breweries A/S to test-market beer across select African subsidiaries. Additionally, its snack manufacturing facility in Morocco has reached full-scale operations, while plants in Zambia and Zimbabwe are preparing to produce and distribute Simba Munchiez.
The Twizza acquisition reinforces VBL’s strategy of backward integration, ensuring greater control over raw materials, reducing reliance on imports, and improving supply chain efficiency. With 12 production facilities already operational outside India and new plants under commissioning in the DRC and Zimbabwe, VBL is positioning itself as a pan-African beverage powerhouse, leveraging local production to capture market share in one of the continent’s fastest-growing soft drink markets.
