de C.V. (BMV:arca), the second Coca-Cola bottler, Mexico and Latin America by its sales volume, which began to carry out its strategy of expanding its operations in the region and as part of thisyesterday announced the signing of a purchase agreement with the shareholders of the company the bottler, franchisees of The Coca-Cola Company in the northwestern region of Argentina serving a population of nearly 5 million inhabitants. This agreement represents the beginning of the first Ark out of Mexico operations. For Francisco Garza Egloff, CEO of Ark: this agreement represents an important strategic step in our continuous search for opportunities of growth and value creation, not only in Mexico but in Latin America. The time by which domestic consumption in Latin American economies is going through is more than suitable for that Ark can carry out its regional expansion plan since you can leverage the bonanza of Latin American markets to grow rapidly in the same. The start of the year comes being moved to Ark already on February 20 had announced it will invest $170 million this year in maintenance and the construction of a plant of snacks, business that joined in 2007. According to S & P, which kept on 21 February Arca qualifying mxAAA (CVal) nationally, and that at the end of 2007 reported a consolidated sales volume of soft drinks and water in personal of 480 million cases presentations unit (MCU). The company maintains a solid position of leadership in its territories with a market share estimated more than 70%.

Ark has consistently reported high margins of profitability, with its EBITDA margin reached 24.7% at the end of 2007. The relative stability of their margins is explained by the ability of the company to counteract increases in its raw materials with controls over its cost of distribution and a rigorous discipline to reduce administrative expenses. In general, we hope that these levels of profitability remain based on the growing demand that exists in the territories of the franchise and the ability to continue to implement strategies for improvements in productivity. We also believe that solid and stable Ark cash flow generation ability provides certainty that the company could counter the negative impact of an economic slowdown in their territories. S & P sees in the action of Ark a stable perspective and, according to the rating agency: perspective also considers our expectation that Ark will not compromise your credit profile in case of presenting new business opportunities or increase their participation in the consolidation of Coca-Cola in Mexico us system will find again tomorrow, Horacio Pozzo Autor original and source of the article.