News: CCL UPDATE 1-Coca-Cola European Partners makes $6.6 billion takeover offer for Coca-Cola...

(Adds share performance, shareholders, third-quarter trading update)

Oct 26 (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (CCL) said on Monday that Coca-Cola European Partners CCEPC.L offered to buy the Australian bottler for A$9.23 billion ($6.58 billion), in what would be the country's biggest deal this year.

The world's largest independent bottler of Coca-Cola is offering A$12.75 per share, an 18.6% premium to the last closing price of the Sydney-based company that operates across six countries in the Asia-Pacific. The company said that including long-term incentive share rights, the implied equity deal value was A$9.28 billion.

The takeover has the backing of Amatil's independent shareholders, the company said.

U.S.-based Coca-Cola Co KO.N owns a 30.8% stake in Coca-Cola Amatil and a 19.4% stake in Coca-Cola European Partners, according to Refinitiv data.

Both companies, which bottle and sell Coca-Cola drinks across their respective markets, have been hit by lockdowns that have squeezed volumes and forced them to look to other channels.

Shares of Coca-Cola Amatil are down nearly a fifth from their 2020 high.

Business in the third quarter has improved, Amatil said, due to an easing of COVID-19 restrictions and a recovery in on-the-go channels such as fast-food outlets, cafes and convenience stores.

"This has particularly been the case in Western Australia and New Zealand ... providing insight on the expected shape of the recovery that can be expected," Amatil Managing Director Alison Watkins said in a statement.

The company has 32 production facilities and operates in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Samoa. ($1 = 1.4027 Australian dollars)