Danish brewer Carlsberg has agreed to acquire Armenia’s PepsiCo bottler, taking over the production, sale and distribution of PepsiCo’s soft drinks in the country, in a transaction that still requires approval from the Armenian government.
The company is JI Pepsi Cola Bottler Armenia. The seller is Revery, which also owns Georgia’s Iberia Refreshments, the PepsiCo bottler there. Carlsberg is buying both. Agreements have been signed, and financial terms were not disclosed, Reuters reported.
Revery already imports and licenses Pepsi, Nestlé and Carlsberg brands across Armenia, Georgia and Uzbekistan, according to OCCRP. The group is associated with the family of former Armenian President Armen Sarkissian. Ownership of Revery Group Limited was transferred in August 2020 to a trust in the name of Sarkissian’s son Hayk, who the company says founded it.
The Armenian bottler previously belonged to the Arsenyan family, who also own the mineral water producer Jermuk Group.
Carlsberg will run Armenia and Georgia alongside Azerbaijan. The company said adding the 2 markets creates a strong cluster in the South Caucasus, where it will build on an established business in Azerbaijan. Its PepsiCo bottling partnership there begins in 2027 and was announced about 2 months ago.
“We’re excited about the expansion of our long-standing partnership with PepsiCo to Georgia and Armenia,” said Nikos Kalaitzidakis, Executive Vice President for Central and Eastern Europe and India at Carlsberg Group. “The expanded business will provide a strong platform to further develop a full multi-beverage portfolio across the region.”
Natalia Filippociants, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Beverages Europe at PepsiCo, said the agreements give the company a stronger route to market in Georgia and Armenia and support the next phase of growth.
The deals are unlikely to materially affect Carlsberg’s near-term revenue or earnings, Jyske Bank analyst Haider Anjum said in a note cited by Reuters. “The main point for investors is not the two markets themselves, but the signal of an increasingly close relationship between Carlsberg and PepsiCo,” he said, adding that closer ties could lead to broader cooperation and access to new markets.
Once the deals take effect, Carlsberg will hold PepsiCo bottling agreements in 17 markets: the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos and Cambodia, along with Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from 2029, Azerbaijan from 2027, and Georgia and Armenia once the acquisitions complete.
Armenia and Georgia will become Carlsberg operating markets after the transaction closes.
Carlsberg was established in 1847 by the brewer J.C. Jacobsen and employs more than 35,000 people across more than 150 markets. It reported revenue of 89.1 billion Danish kroner in 2025, roughly $13.9 billion, up 18.8 percent on the previous year. PepsiCo generated nearly $94 billion in net revenue in 2025.
