Coca-Cola plans to pop the cap on $1 billion HCCB IPO this year

New Delhi: Coca-Cola has tapped investment bankers at Kotak, HDFC Group and Citibank, among others, for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its Indian bottling company, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), to raise $1 billion (₹9,027 crore approx), officials with direct knowledge of developments told ET. The world's biggest beverage maker is planning the listing for this summer.

"Coca-Cola's plans for listing HCCB, valuing the company at close to $10 billion, are on track for this year," said one of the executives cited above. "The listing will only be postponed to next year in case the peak summer demand is particularly impacted by rains, similar to last year."

Recent large market debuts by multinational consumer companies include those by Hyundai Motors India and LG Electronics. Hyundai had a record $3.3-billion IPO and LG a $1.3-billion listing. Both sold shares locally over 2024 and 2025.

Coca-Cola - which leads India's ₹60,000-crore soft drinks market - makes, sells and distributes Coca-Cola, Thums Up and Sprite aerated drinks, Maaza juice, Kinley and Dasani water, Georgia coffee and Schweppes mixers.

The IPO cycle began more than a year ago, with Coca-Cola selling 40% in Hindustan Coca-Cola Holdings Pvt Ltd, HCCB parent entity, to Jubilant Bhartia Group for ₹12,500-crore. That stake sale was in line with Coca-Cola's global asset-light approach that focused on strategy, innovation, brand building and digitisation, instead of direct ownership of large capital-intensive bottling operations.

Jubilant FoodWorks has exclusive franchise rights for US restaurant chains Domino's Pizza, Popeyes and Dunkin' Donuts in India, and the partnership with HCCB draws on unlocking direct long-term synergies between beverages and quick service restaurant chains.

Consolidation in Industry "With a realigned leadership team in place, we remain focused on driving operational excellence," an HCCB spokesperson said in response to ET's query, without making any specific references to the proposed IPO. In July last year, HCCB announced Hemant Rupani, formerly chocolate maker Mondelez's president for Southeast Asia, as its new chief executive, succeeding outgoing chief Juan Pablo Rodriguez.

"We have been passing on the benefits of the new GST-led pricing to ensure better value and more affordable choices to consumers. Any other news is speculative," the spokesperson added.

Individual investment banks could not immediately be reached for their comments.

Coca-Cola sells concentrate to its bottling partners. The India unit of the world's largest beverage maker operates 15 plants through HCCB and multiple independent bottlers, with operations more or less evenly split between the two.

HCCB reported ₹12,751.29 crore in revenue for FY25, a 9% decline on-year, filings with the Registrar of Companies sourced from business intelligence platform Tofler showed. HCCB said the numbers were impacted by sale of manufacturing plants to its existing independent franchise bottling partners across multiple territories, including Rajasthan, Bihar, the North East, and parts of West Bengal to three of its largest existing bottlers - Moon Beverages, Kandhari Global Beverages and SLMG Beverages.

For its last reported nine-month period ended September 2025, the Atlanta-based company said it incurred $7 million of transaction costs and a net gain of $102 million on account of refranchising (or sale) of certain bottling operations in India. Sales of all beverage makers were dented significantly amid muted demand on account of unseasonal and consistent rains through the peak summer months of April to September last year. April-June alone accounts for about half of the total annual soft-drink sales.

Analysts said the food-beverage-restaurant space is set for a significant upside, with large consolidation and consumer demand revival after five quarters of tepid growth, and due to the proliferation of smaller artisanal chains and local players.

On January 1, Jubilant FoodWorks' rival firms, Devyani International and Sapphire Foods, announced a merger to bring together KFC and Pizza Hut under Devyani International to jointly operate more than 3,000 stores. Devyani International is owned by RJ Corp, among PepsiCo's largest franchise bottlers.

Analysts at JP Morgan said in a note that the merger meant a simplified structure, potential for meaningful cost savings, and quicker decision-making.