If you're Coca-Cola, PepsiCo or Cadbury-Schweppes, you search high and low to snatch up companies with strong brands and even stronger distribution.

PepsiCo, the nation's second-biggest soft-drink company, is shelling out $542 million for a majority stake in a Sandora LLC, a Ukraine-based juice company, with plans to buy the rest of the company later this year, according to The Associated Press (via Forbes).

The announced acquisition is the first under a joint venture of PepsiCo and Minneapolis-based PepsiAmericas Inc. Both companies claim Sandora is the leading juice maker in the former Soviet bloc country. The acquisition gives it a base in the growing Central and Eastern European market, according to Robert Pohlad, chief executive of PepsiAmerica. Pohlad also said the juice market in the Ukraine is growing 17 percent a year and the company would continue to look for opportunities in the region.

That all sounds fine and dandy but there really is a greater, underlying concern as to why an iconic brand like Pepsi is on a Ukrainian shopping spree, according to the AP announcement:

Carbonated beverage makers are trying to expand their product offerings to juice and other non-carbonated drinks to meet shifting consumer tastes. PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi said in April that the company has a "rich acquisition pipeline," and its other recent non-cola beverage acquisitions include Izze Beverage Co. and Naked Juice Co. The deal also fits with its strategy to expand in international markets.

What's interesting about Pepsi's ambitious, international expansion plan is that it seems to fly in the face of arch-rival Coca-Cola's strategy, which is one that sticks closer to U.S. soil, with the potential to go global.

For instance, Coke recently purchased Energy Brands, Inc., known as glacéau, and its full range of fast-growing, enhanced water brands, including vitaminwater. Glacéau will now operate as a separate business unit of Coca-Cola North America, giving it a strong platform from which to accelerate its growth in active lifestyle beverages.

Industry newsletter Beverage Digest (via CNN Money), citing "informed sources," said Coke has asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to determine whether the possible merger violates antitrust laws. Such a filing under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act can be made only when companies have at least a non-binding letter of intent to merge, Beverage Digest reported. Coke and Glaceau must wait at least 30 days from the filing to close the deal unless the companies get permission to move sooner.

Nevertheless, according to Muhtar Kent, president and chief operating officer at The Coca-Cola Company, this acquisition "fits perfectly within our focus on our North American business and our belief that, alongside our sparkling beverage leadership, an expanded active lifestyle business will greatly enhance our still beverage line-up.

"[Now] we are moving full speed ahead to fully leverage glacéau's growth potential, first in the United States and then around the world."

Around the world, you say? Wonder if this potential to go global with different brands from other companies also holds true for another deal Coke recently cut with Campbell Soup Company. The Camden-based company recently announced that Coca-Cola North America will distribute its juices in the United States and Canada, starting in September.

The iconic companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal, which applies to single-serve bottles of V8, V8 V-Fusion, V8 Splash and Campbell's tomato juices.

Denise Morrison, president of Campbell USA, said it would increase the profile and sales of the Campbell's drinks. "This is a bold move for us," Morrison said. "We see this as a very significant growth opportunity."

Perhaps not as bold as Cadbury-Schweppes' decision to buy Itergum, a Turkish gum business for $450 million in cash and debt, according to The Middle Eastern Times. Intergum held a 46 percent share of the Turkish gum market in 2006, with revenues that reached $109 million. It will be interesting to see how Cadbury spins this recent purchase into the golden egg that it wants it to be.