Coca-Cola, China Mengniu Dairy Sign Olympic Deal

   By Martin Mou

Coca-Cola Co. (KO) and China Mengniu Dairy Co. (2319.HK) have signed an agreement with the International Olympic Committee to become IOC's top partners through 2032, the IOC said in a statement on Monday.

The IOC did not disclose the value of the deal. The Financial Times cited a person briefed on the negotiations as saying sponsorship was worth up to $1.5 billion. It also cited people with knowledge of the deal as saying the "overall value of the partnership was closer to $3 billion, as both Coca-Cola and Mengniu have also committing to additional media spending, such as running advertising with Olympics broadcasters."

The deal, one of the biggest ever corporate endorsements in sports, would make Mengniu the first Chinese fast-moving consumer goods company to become an IOC top partner, giving it exclusive rights to market its products in Olympic events under a new joint category that combines the non-alcoholic beverage and the dairy categories.

Jeffrey Lu, Mengniu's CEO, was quoted in the statement as saying the top partner status would "act as a catalyst for Mengniu to grow around the world."

Write to Martin Mou at martin.mou@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2019 03:54 ET (07:54 GMT)

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