Britvic chairman Gerald Corbett was quoted as saying that the company was in “a very different position” to last summer, despite talks that were held last year when a deal was agreed.
Britvic said: The merger lapsed in February when the deal was referred to the Competition Commission. We would obviously consider any proposal tabled in the interests of shareholders. However, Britvic is in a very different position to last summer when the merger was agreed. We have a new chief executive in Simon Litherland, who has done a fantastic job in implementing his new plan for Britvic. The board is confident of driving £30m of cost savings over the next three years and of the enhanced international expansion opportunities. In addition, performance has improved, the merger benefits are materially less than they were and our share price is almost twice the level it was. Britvic’s prospects as a stand-alone company are bright.
AG Barr is willing to press ahead with the deal: The board of AG Barr believes this is a significant positive step and, in light of this, will actively reconsider a potential merger with Britvic. The board will review all material new developments since the original merger terms were agreed but currently believes that, other than Britvic’s recently announced short-term cost-saving plan, little has changed to alter its previous conviction that a merger represents a unique opportunity for value creation for both sets of shareholders in the short, medium and long term.
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