Carlsberg to buy Britvic for $4.23 billion
Summary
The Danish brewer agreed to buy London-listed soft drinks maker Britvic as part of a plan to expand in the non-alcoholic beverage market and reduce reliance on beer sales.Danish brewer Carlsberg agreed to buy London-listed soft drinks maker Britvic for 3.3 billion pounds ($4.23 billion) as part of a plan to expand in the non-alcoholic beverage market and reduce reliance on beer sales.
Carlsberg—which houses its namesake lager brand as well as Somersby cider and Garage alcopop brands under its Beyond Beer segment—said Monday that it is offering 1,315 pence for each Britvic share, a 29.6% premium to its closing price of 1,015 pence on June 20, the day before the previous proposals were made public.
The offer includes cash of 1,290 pence a share and a 25 pence a share special dividend. The price implies an enterprise value for Britvic of GBP4.1 billion.
Carlsberg had previously made two offer proposals of 1,200 pence a share, which was increased to 1,250 pence. Both had been rejected by the owner of Fruit Shoot, Robinsons, Tango and J2O, which said they significantly undervalued Britvic’s current and future prospects.
On June 24, Carlsberg said PepsiCo had agreed to waive a change of control clause in its bottling arrangements with Britvic as a show of support for the takeover. Britvic has a deal with PepsiCo in the U.K. for the production, distribution and sales of its carbonated drink brands such as Pepsi, 7UP and Mountain Dew. It extended the long-running partnership by 20 years in late 2020.
Carlsberg said in February that it would initially leverage the Somersby cider and Garage alcopop brands under its Beyond Beer segment, while seeking opportunities and expanding its portfolio through partnerships. Carlsberg’s Beyond Beer category currently represents just 2% of total volumes.
Its soft drinks portfolio accounts for 16% of group volumes and 27% of volumes in Western Europe.
Carlsberg said Monday that the acquisition supports its overall growth ambitions and builds on its bottling business in the Nordic region, while deepening and strengthening its footprint in Western Europe.
The company said it plans to accelerate commercial and supply chain investments in Britvic, driving the future growth trajectory of the business.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
