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Carlsberg: Pepsi agrees to waive Britvic clause
Carlsberg has announced in a statement that it has reached an agreement with PepsiCo on its bottling arrangements with Britvic.
Although the firm is yet to make an improved offer on its current (rejected) £3.1bn bid for soft-drinks giant Britvic — stating in the official statement that it is “considering its position” — the fresh news will be welcome to the firm.
It means that PepsiCo has agreed to waive the change-of-control clause in the bottling arrangements it has with Britvic. This would have come into effect should there be an acquisition of Britvic by Carlsberg.
The company had originally entered into a 20 year franchise bottling deal with Britvic back in 2020. The news means it would not exercise the clause should a deal be done, and therefore would not potentially terminate its bottling agreement with Britvic in such an event.
Despite the news, the Danish brewer said “there can be no certainty that any offer will be made” and that a “further announcement will be made as appropriate”.
On the back of Monday morning’s news, shares in Britvic soared to an all-time high of 1,207p, which was an increase of almost 10%. At the same time, Carlsberg stocks were slightly down at 0.26%.
At present, Carlsberg has just under a month to 19 July to make an improved offer for Britvic.
Rejected offers
The news follows Carlsberg’s latest offer at 1,250p per share, valuing the firm at around £3.1bn, being rejected last week.
This followed an earlier bid in June which valued Britvic, which makes or operates popular brand such as Robinson’s Fruit Shoot and J20, at 1,200p per share and was also turned down.
According to a statement from Britvic last week, the board and advisers “carefully considered the second proposal” but it concluded that such a deal “significantly undervalues” the firm as well as its “current and future prospects”.
Growth
The Britvic bids come as CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said late last year that the company had reiterated its full-year organic operating profit of 4% to 7% for 2023, and also launched a new quarterly share buy-back programme, which would amount to DKK1 billion.
CEO of Carlsberg Jacob Aarup-Andersen said it had “delivered solid revenue growth in a challenging environment” and that it would further increase commercial investments to support its growth priorities.
He said: “The company has a strong foundation and a healthy financial position. We’re well positioned to invest in our brands and in our markets to capture attractive long-term growth opportunities. I’m confident that we can accelerate growth in line with the SAIL’27 priorities and continue to drive year-on-year sustainable and profitable results.”
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