A new logo earlier this year signaled big changes afoot at PepsiCo, the $43.3 billion soft drink and snacks company headquartered in Purchase, N.Y. On Sunday, PepsiCo followed with plans to take over its two largest independent bottlers, including the Minneapolis-based PepsiAmericas, a Pohlad family enterprise.

The $6 billion offer -- $23.27 per share in cash and stock for PepsiAmericas and $29.50 in cash and stock for Pepsi Bottling Group, based in Somers, N.Y. -- would give the company more control of its bottling system while channeling some savings back to the company because of shared costs.

A spokeswoman for PepsiAmericas said she didn't know if the board on Monday was considering the offer, or even if it was meeting. The stock Friday closed at just under $20 a share on the New York Stock Exchange. The offer represents a 17 percent premium for each company, valuing PepsiAmericas at $2.9 billion.

The Pepsi Bottling Group, which reported a loss of $271 million in its most recent quarter, was valued at $6.4 billion by the deal.

Both stocks closed higher than the offer prices Monday, a sign that Wall Street thinks the deals could be sweetened. PepsiAmericas closed at $25.04, while Pepsi Bottling ended regular trading at $30.73.

Philip Gorham, an analyst at Morningstar Research, said he thinks PepsiCo is moving now to take advantage of low equity prices for the bottlers. PepsiAmericas has traded for between $14.51 and $27.02 in the past year.

"I think it's a fair price," Gorham said. "The prices they've offered are very close to what we had as far as estimates for both firms."

PepsiAmericas bills itself as the world's second-largest bottler of Pepsi products, responsible for 19 percent of Pepsi products sold in the United States. It also has large operations in Central and Eastern Europe and the Caribbean.

The company runs 33 manufacturing facilities and 175 distribution centers globally.

The bottler, with 20,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of $4.9 billion, has some 15 to 20 executive staff at its Minneapolis headquarters in the RBC Plaza, according to a spokeswoman.

Its leadership includes Robert C. Pohlad, the late Carl Pohlad's son and chief executive officer of PepsiAmericas. He stands to earn $7.7 million in the sale, according to the company's change of control agreement detailed in the proxy filed last month.

He earned $4.4 million in salary and stock last year, according to the filing. Pohlad also holds 437,930 shares of PAS, which the takeover offer values at $10.2 million.

The year has already seen significant changes for the cola company that traces its roots to 1893, when it was known as Brad's Drink, named for its inventor. Pepsico redesigned its logo and changed the fonts on all Pepsi, Diet Pepsi and Pepsi Max products this year.

The company owns 43.2 percent of PepsiAmericas' 125 million outstanding shares and is its largest shareholder. The Pohlad family owns 9.7 percent of the company's stock through Starquest Securities, a Minnesota limited liability company.

Other large shareholders include Barclays Global Investors, with 6.3 percent, and GAMCO investors, 5.4 percent.

Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329