Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc., headquartered in Birmingham, announced it closed a transaction with The Coca-Cola Company that expands UNITED's territory to include metro Atlanta and seven additional Coca-Cola territories in Georgia.  UNITED also acquired two production facilities as part of the transaction.

This transaction follows Coca-Cola UNITED's December 2015 announcement in which it signed Letters of Intent with The Coca-Cola Company for the acquisition of territories in Athens, Dublin, Gainesville, Jasper, Lawrenceville, Macon, Rome, and metropolitan Atlanta, as well as production facilities in College Park and Marietta. 

"Coca-Cola UNITED continues its amazing transformation with the addition of Atlanta and surrounding communities throughout north and central Georgia. The magnitude of this transaction is significant, in that we are increasing the overall size of our company by some 40 percent and adding more than 2,000 associates to the UNITED family," said John Sherman, president and CEO, Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED. "To further our commitment to our associates and customers throughout Georgia, we are making significant investments in our people, infrastructure and communities."

"Coca-Cola UNITED has been a valued partner of The Coca-Cola Company for more than a century," said J. Alexander "Sandy" Douglas Jr., president, Coca-Cola North America. "Coca-Cola UNITED has a strong heritage of serving its customers and consumers, and we are happy to have UNITED become our new partner in Atlanta, Coke's hometown."

In addition to the 2,000 associates who have joined UNITED through this acquisition, the company has added approximately 200 new jobs, an increase of 10%. UNITED also expects to invest approximately $25 million this year on equipment, facilities and its delivery fleet in Atlanta, as part of its commitment to providing the highest levels of service to its customers. UNITED plans another $100 million in local capital investments in Atlanta during the next few years.

"It's both humbling and a tremendous opportunity to be the local bottler in the hometown of The Coca-Cola Company, and we take this new responsibility very seriously. We have an extraordinarily talented and experienced Coca-Cola team here, and I am impressed with their dedication to our local customers and communities," said Mike Suco, vice president of the Atlanta-based East Region for Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED. "Our teams in Atlanta and throughout Georgia are ready to implement UNITED's local operating model, which is designed to build strong local relationships, serve our customers at the highest levels, and make a positive impact through community engagement."