SOFT DRINKS giant Pepsi is poised to realise a total of almost €338 million from the voluntary liquidation of an Irish holding company, according to official filings.
There was no response from any representative for Pepsi's Irish operation when the company's Dublin office was contacted last evening about the winding up of PepsiCo International Ireland, an unlimited company whose registered office is at Sir John Rogerson's Quay in Dublin.
A Bermuda-based liquidator, Paul King of King Associates in Hamilton, has been appointed to oversee the winding-up process, say filings to the Companies Registration Office.
The company's unlimited liability means it has not been obliged to publicly file accounts or any detailed description of its financial affairs.
However, a declaration of solvency filed in recent days shows that Pepsi expects to realise a surplus of some €337.79 million after the payment of all debt.
The most recently filed auditors' report for the business - for 2006, but publicly filed towards the end of last month - shows that its directors resolved last May to arrange the orderly wind-up of the company and organise to have it struck off.
Six of the company's seven directors are based in Bermuda and the seventh is based in England.
Most of the shares in the business are owned by Pepsi Cola (Bermuda) Ltd. While Pepsi has a significant business in Cork, the financial scale of its operations here are difficult to guage because they are typically controlled by companies with unlimited liability.
According to The Irish TimesTop 1,000 guide to large companies in Ireland, the Pepsi organisation's Irish operation is estimated to have had annual revenues in the region of €750 million last year.
There was no estimation of the profits made by the business.
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