KO Coca Cola Company

Coca-Cola Co. on Tuesday rolled out plans to remake its international structure, as it looks to support its changing bottler footprint.

After years of slow progress, the beverage giant is now racing to sell off its U.S. manufacturing and distribution operations by next year so it can focus on its much more profitable concentrate-making business.

As part of the changes announced Tuesday, and effective Aug. 1, Coke will form a Europe, Middle East and Africa group, made up of the business units that currently make up the Europe and the Eurasia and Africa groups.

In Europe, the Central and Southern Europe and Russia, Ukraine and Belarus business units will combine to form a new Central and Eastern Europe business unit, which Coke said will better support the bottling footprint in the region.

Coke will form a new South and East Africa business unit and a West Africa business unit—a reconfiguration of two existing units to better align with bottle operations in Africa.

Under the new structure, the company has tapped several of its executives formerly in charge of areas in Latin America to lead the newly outlined regions. Latin America was the company's second-largest source of revenue outside of North America in 2014, though it fell slightly behind Europe in 2015.

Shares in the company, inactive premarket, have added 2.4% this year to $43.97.

Coke reported last month its growth slowed in the first quarter as it was dragged down by its namesake cola, renewing questions of whether the beverage giant can return to promised revenue increases in the mid-single digits.

Soda volumes were flat after five straight quarters of increases as flagship Coke declined in every region but Asia, weighed down by a weakening global economy and rising health concerns over sugary drinks.

Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2016 09:25 ET (13:25 GMT)

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