Britvic’s £3.3bn takeover by Carlsberg gets green light from UK watchdog

Tue, 17 Dec 2024, 09:43
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The £3.3bn

takeover of the UK soft drinks maker Britvic

by the Danish brewer Carlsberg has received the go-ahead from Britain’s competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it had cleared the proposed deal, a day before the deadline for the first phase of its investigation into the takeover.

The watchdog began studying the deal in late October and said it would publish a full statement with the reasons for its decision to approve the deal later on Tuesday.

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Britvic, which makes well-known drinks such as Robinsons squash, J20 and R White’s lemonade,

accepted a £13.15-a-share offer

from Carlsberg in July.

The company will be called Carlsberg Britvic, and combine Britvic’s soft drinks portfolio with Carlsberg’s beer offering, creating a beverage “powerhouse” in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, according to the Danish company. The deal is expected to be completed in January.

A spokesperson said: “The combination of Carlsberg and Britvic will create a highly attractive multi-beverage supplier in the UK, with an efficient supply chain and distribution network that provides our customers with a portfolio of market leading brands and world-class service.”

Carlsberg hopes to make annual cost savings of £100m over five years as a result of the deal.

Britvic had

rejected previous takeover offers

from Carlsberg on the grounds that they undervalued the company.

Britvic, headquartered in Hemel Hempstead to the north of London, was founded in the 1930s as the British Vitamin Products Company and used soft drinks as an affordable way of supplying its output to consumers. It has 39 brands and operates in more than 100 countries including Brazil, France and Ireland.

It also has an

exclusive licence with PepsiCo

in Great Britain and Ireland to make and sell Pepsi Max, 7UP, Rockstar Energy and Lipton Ice Tea.

Carlsberg has said previously it had secured an agreement from PepsiCo to waive a clause in its bottling contract with Britvic that would have allowed it to cancel the arrangement in the event of a change of ownership.

Britvic is well known for its Robinsons brand, which had a

sponsorship partnership

with the Wimbledon tennis tournament that was one of the longest-running in sport, lasting for 86 years before it ended in 2022. Robinsons was acquired by Britvic in 1995.

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