Coca Cola 2011 Annual Report Download - page 22

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our worldwide headquarters is located on a 35-acre office complex in Atlanta, Georgia. The complex includes the approximately
621,000 square foot headquarters building and an approximately 870,000 square foot building in which CCNA’s and CCR’s main
offices are located. The complex also includes several other buildings, including the approximately 264,000 square foot Coca-Cola
Plaza building, technical and engineering facilities, a learning center and a reception center. We also own an office and retail building
at 711 Fifth Avenue in New York, New York. These properties are primarily included in the Corporate operating segment.
We own or lease additional facilities, real estate and office space throughout the world which we use for administrative,
manufacturing, processing, packaging, packing, storage, warehousing, distribution and retail operations. These properties are
generally included in the geographic operating segment in which they are located.
In North America, as of December 31, 2011, we owned 69 beverage production facilities, 10 principal beverage concentrate and/or
syrup manufacturing plants, one facility that manufactures juice concentrates for foodservice use and two bottled water facilities;
we leased one bottled water facility, one beverage production facility and six container manufacturing facilities; and we operated
287 principal beverage distribution warehouses, of which 104 were leased and the rest were owned. Also included in the North
America operating segment is a portion of the Atlanta office complex.
Additionally, as of December 31, 2011, our Company owned and operated 20 principal beverage concentrate manufacturing plants
outside of North America, of which four are included in the Eurasia and Africa operating segment; three are included in the
Europe operating segment; five are included in the Latin America operating segment; and eight are included in the Pacific
operating segment.
We own or hold a majority interest in or otherwise consolidate under applicable accounting rules bottling operations that, as of
December 31, 2011, owned 97 principal beverage bottling and canning plants located throughout the world. These plants are
included in the Bottling Investments operating segment.
Management believes that our Company’s facilities for the production of our products are suitable and adequate, that they are
being appropriately utilized in line with past experience, and that they have sufficient production capacity for their present
intended purposes. The extent of utilization of such facilities varies based upon seasonal demand for our products. However,
management believes that additional production can be obtained at the existing facilities by adding personnel and capital
equipment and, at some facilities, by adding shifts of personnel or expanding the facilities. We continuously review our anticipated
requirements for facilities and, on the basis of that review, may from time to time acquire additional facilities and/or dispose of
existing facilities.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The Company is involved in various legal proceedings, including the proceedings specifically discussed below. Management
believes that the total liabilities to the Company that may arise as a result of currently pending legal proceedings will not have a
material adverse effect on the Company taken as a whole.
Aqua-Chem Litigation
On December 20, 2002, the Company filed a lawsuit (The Coca-Cola Company v. Aqua-Chem, Inc., Civil Action
No. 2002CV631-50) in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia (the ‘‘Georgia Case’’), seeking a declaratory judgment that
the Company has no obligation to its former subsidiary, Aqua-Chem, Inc., now known as Cleaver-Brooks, Inc. (‘‘Aqua-Chem’’), for
any past, present or future liabilities or expenses in connection with any claims or lawsuits against Aqua-Chem. Subsequent to the
Company’s filing but on the same day, Aqua-Chem filed a lawsuit (Aqua-Chem, Inc. v. The Coca-Cola Company, Civil Action
No. 02CV012179) in the Circuit Court, Civil Division of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (the ‘‘Wisconsin Case’’). In the Wisconsin
Case, Aqua-Chem sought a declaratory judgment that the Company is responsible for all liabilities and expenses not covered by
insurance in connection with certain of Aqua-Chem’s general and product liability claims arising from occurrences prior to the
Company’s sale of Aqua-Chem in 1981, and a judgment for breach of contract in an amount exceeding $9 million for costs
incurred by Aqua-Chem to date in connection with such claims. The Wisconsin Case initially was stayed, pending final resolution
of the Georgia Case, and later was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice by Aqua-Chem.
The Company owned Aqua-Chem from 1970 to 1981. During that time, the Company purchased over $400 million of insurance
coverage, which also insures Aqua-Chem for some of its prior and future costs for certain product liability and other claims.
The Company sold Aqua-Chem to Lyonnaise American Holding, Inc., in 1981 under the terms of a stock sale agreement. The
1981 agreement, and a subsequent 1983 settlement agreement, outlined the parties’ rights and obligations concerning past and
future claims and lawsuits involving Aqua-Chem. Cleaver-Brooks, a division of Aqua-Chem, manufactured boilers, some of
which contained asbestos gaskets. Aqua-Chem was first named as a defendant in asbestos lawsuits in or around 1985 and
20