Carlsberg has agreed to buy PepsiCo’s bottling businesses in Georgia and Armenia from the investment firm Revery, the Danish brewer announced on 5 October 2026. Once the deals close, Carlsberg will produce, sell and distribute PepsiCo soft drinks in both countries. The Armenian purchase still needs approval from the Armenian government.
The targets are Iberia Refreshments in Georgia and JI Pepsi Cola Bottler Armenia, which already bottle PepsiCo brands in their markets. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deals lift Carlsberg’s PepsiCo bottling agreements to 17 markets, and they follow a July agreement to take over PepsiCo bottling in Azerbaijan from 1 January 2027.
A South Caucasus cluster
Georgia and Armenia will join Azerbaijan to form a South Caucasus cluster, and both will become Carlsberg operating markets once the full transaction completes. Natalia Filippociants, PepsiCo’s senior vice president and general manager for International Beverages Europe, said the agreements give PepsiCo a stronger route to market in the two countries. Nikos Kalaitzidakis, Carlsberg’s executive vice president for Central and Eastern Europe and India, said the group intends to build a full multi-beverage portfolio in the region.
Why a brewer wants soft drinks
Bottling is the part of PepsiCo’s business that Carlsberg already runs in markets from Britain and Norway to Kazakhstan and Cambodia, and each new territory adds soft-drink volume to a group best known for beer. In Azerbaijan, Carlsberg plans to expand its Xirdalan brewery to make the PepsiCo range and expects the arrangement to double its business there, which is the company’s own projection.
Jyske Bank analyst Haider Anjum judged the Georgia and Armenia deals unlikely to affect near-term revenue or earnings materially. He saw the larger signal in the closer relationship between the two groups, which could lead to wider cooperation and new markets.
What to watch
The announcement gives no completion date, and the Armenian approval is the one named condition. The Azerbaijan agreement starts in 2027, while the Danish, Finnish and Baltic agreements do not begin until 2029, so Carlsberg’s PepsiCo network will keep expanding in stages over the next three years.
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