PepsiCo has reached a $7.8bn agreement to acquire the outstanding shares of its two largest bottlers, Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) and PepsiAmericas (PAS) after raising its initial bid by more than 20 per cent.

The agreement brings to an end the messy takeover bid for the two bottlers launched in May. The initial $6bn combined price tag was rejected as too low and sparked an embarrassing court battle over the way it was handled.