MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican retailer Femsa plans to spend more than 237 billion pesos ($13.91 billion) over the next five years to grow its business and return capital to shareholders, the company said on Thursday, following a series of divestments of non-core units.
About 170 billion pesos of the plan will be invested in Mexico, the company’s main market, according to a Femsa filing.
Femsa added it will return to shareholders about 6% of its market value in the next two or three years through additional dividends and share buybacks.
The company, which controls one of the world’s largest Coca-Cola bottlers and a sprawling chain of Oxxo convenience stores, last year sold its stakes in Dutch brewer Heineken and U.S. wholesaler Jetro Restaurant Depot, as part of its focus on core businesses and cutting debt.
An executive told Reuters the businesses that remain to be unloaded represent about 10% of the company’s initial divestment plan, and will likely be sold in 2024.
“As we look at the portfolio of investment opportunities available to us, we will privilege organic investments within our proven business models that can generate returns,” Femsa said in a separate statement.
($1 = 17.0383 Mexican pesos)
(Reporting by Valentine Hilaire; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and David Alire Garcia)
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