Carlsberg: Britvic takeover finally completed

(CercleFinance.com) - British soft drinks manufacturer Britvic announced on Monday that it had finally accepted a takeover bid from Danish brewer Carlsberg, whose advances it had repeatedly rebuffed.


Under the terms of the agreement, each Britvic shareholder will receive 1315 pence per share, including 1290 pence in cash and 25 pence per share as a special dividend.

By way of comparison, the share price had closed at 1210 pence on Friday evening.

In all, the offer values Britvic on the basis of an enterprise value of around £4.1bn (around E4.8bn).

In a press release, Carlsberg explains that the operation will enable it to support both sales and earnings growth, mentioning in particular the privileged links that the two groups have with the American PepsiCo in bottling.

In the UK, the group says it intends to create a new unified entity, called 'Carlsberg Britvic', which will be able to offer a broader range of beers and soft drinks.

Britvic, which is listed on the FTSE 250 index of the London Stock Exchange, boasts a portfolio of 39 brands, including Teisseire and Pressade in France, which it markets in around 100 countries.

In a reaction note, analysts at Royal Bank of Canada said they were "unimpressed" by the merits of the transaction, which seemed to have been in the pipeline for several weeks.

From a strategic point of view, we are dubious, the Canadian bank says.

Without a doubt, this acquisition will help 'transform Carlsberg's UK business', as the group claims, but we previously thought that the growth strategy was focused on Asia, which leaves us perplexed, RBC concludes.

This view was not shared by the market, as Carlsberg shares on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange rose by over 3% on Monday morning following the announcement. In London, Britic shares rose over 4%.


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