⁍ The Coca-Cola Co’s KO.N European bottler has made a A$9.28 billion ($6.6 billion) buyout approach for Australian peer Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd.

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⁍ The deal would be the biggest takeover involving Australia this year.

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⁍ Coca-Cola Amatil’s profit has been hit by shutdowns of restaurants and pubs since March.

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– The Coca-Cola Co. is trying to buy its second-biggest bottler in Australia in a $6.6 billion deal that would be the biggest takeover of an Australian company this year, reports Reuters. Coca-Cola Amatil’s board has agreed to the offer of $12.75 per share, a 15% premium to the company’s Feb. 20 closing price. The deal still needs approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, which was granted increased powers this year to block overseas deals deemed to be a security or supply chain risk. A spokesman for Coca-Cola Co., which owns 31% of Amatil and 19% of London-listed Coca-Cola European Partners PLC, said the deal would be “in the best interests of the shareowners of both companies and of the Coca-Cola system overall.” Coca-Cola Amatil’s profit has been hit by shutdowns of restaurants and pubs since March. The country’s second most-populous state, Victoria, is only now starting to allow dine-in food retailers to open after a new wave of infections prompted a second shutdown. “We are really confident about the recovery that the business is making (but) clearly there’s uncertainty over the next couple of years with the economic situation, and just the risk of further health outbreaks that could disrupt the business,” the company’s CEO said on an investor call today.