The boards of Carlsberg and Britvic have announced that the brewer is acquiring the soft drinks company for around £3.3 billion.
Carlsberg intends to create a single integrated beverage company in the UK called Carlsberg Britvic, led by a management team of individuals from Carlsberg, CMBC and Britivic.
The combined group will be able to take advantage of the highly synergistic relationship between brewing and soft drinks, including within the areas of procurement, production and warehousing to increase efficiency and better serve customer needs.
It is expected that the acquisition will further strengthen Carlsberg’s close relationship with PepsiCo, which has bottling arrangements with both Carlsberg and Britvic.
Carlsberg has formed a preliminary view that the integration of Britvic could deliver in the region of £100 million over five years.
Jacob Aarup-Andersen, the Carlsberg chief executive, said: “With this transaction, we are combining Britvic’s high-quality soft drinks portfolio with Carlsberg’s strong beer portfolio and route-to-market capabilities, creating an enhanced proposition across the UK and markets in western Europe.”
Ian Durant, the Britvic non-executive chair, said: “The proposed transaction creates an enlarged international group that is well-placed to capture the growth opportunities in multiple drinks sectors.
“Crucially, to remain competitive at a time when the market is being shaped by the trend of increasing consolidation among bottling partners, Carlsberg’s agreement with PepsiCo provides the combined group with a strong platform for continued success.”
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