The Frito-Lay North America division of
PepsiCo Inc.
(
PEP
) has joined hands with Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of
Activision Blizzard, Inc
. (
ATVI
) to promote Activision's video game and toy brand,
Skylanders Spyro's Adventure
. The promotion began on April 2 and will last till May 5,
2012.
Cashing in on the popularity of the video game, Frito-Lay packs
will provide the kids over the age of 13 with a unique code to get
an exclusive online gaming experience and a free Skylanders action
figure.
Only selected Frito-Lay packs such as Frito-Lay Multipack
Classic Mix, Multipack Flavor Mix, or Multipack Adventure Mix packs
will have a unique 8-digit alpha-numeric code, which needs to be
redeemed online to get the exclusive online mini-game,
Skylanders Spyro's Universe
. They can also win prizes on redeeming the codes. The multipack
Frito-Lay snacks will be available at selected retail stores.
The game has over 30 characters, and each character has
specialized statistics in areas such as attack power, defense, and
speed. This has given opportunity to PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division
to attract Activision's video game fans to hunt for these
characters in the Frito-Lay stores.
Last week, PepsiCo has received all necessary regulatory and
shareholder approval to complete its strategic alliance with
leading Chinese food and beverage maker, Tingyi Holding Corp.
PepsiCo can now sell its 24 Chinese bottling operations to Tingyi
by transferring its indirect equity interest in the bottlers to the
latter.
In return, PepsiCo will be receiving a 5% equity interest in
Tingyi's beverage subsidiary, Tingyi-Asahi Beverages. In due course
of time, PepsiCo has plans to increase its interest to 20% by 2015,
when China is estimated to become the world's largest liquid
refreshment beverage market.
Our Recommendation
We currently have a Neutral recommendation on PepsiCo on a
long-term basis. However, the stock carries a Zacks #4 Rank
(short-term 'Sell' rating).
ACTIVISION BLZD (
ATVI
): Free Stock Analysis Report
PEPSICO INC (
PEP
): Free Stock Analysis Report
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