PepsiCo to buy Brazilian cookie maker

American food and beverage company PepsiCo plans to buy Grupo Mabel, a Brazil-based cookie and cracker maker, as a part of its strategy to expand into emerging markets.

PepsiCo outbid other food companies, including American food processor Bunge and Mexican baking company Bimbo with a bid of R$800m (US$458.61m) to R$900m (US$515.94m), reported Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.

With this acquisition, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, PepsiCo would strengthen its presence in the central-west and north-eastern regions of Brazil.

PepsiCo is being advised by UBS AG on the deal, while Mabel is being advised by Credit Suisse Group.

Mabel, which reported sales of R$6.6bn (US$3.78bn) in 2010, has five facilities in the states of Goias, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Sergipe and Santa Catarina in Brazil.

The company manufactures 1.5 million packages of 150 different types of snack foods a day.