Pepsi plans to buy bottlers

For years, Pepsi (PEP) has owned its brands but its bottlers made and distributed them around the country. It is an odd system that breaks two critical elements into separate operating units.

Now, Pepsi want to change that paradigm. According to The Wall Street Journal, "PepsiCo Inc. launched a $6 billion takeover bid for its two largest independent bottlers late Sunday, a major strategy shift that signals the company's intention to overhaul how it makes and distributes its products to consumers."