Christmas cheers December 15, 2013 Our very own wine buff Neil Bennett quizzes the City glitterati about their Christmas wine plans AMID the piles of Christmas wrapping paper and credit card bills, there is one gift wine lovers can give themselves on Christmas Day – setting aside a special something to share with the family. Personally, I spend far too [...]
Berkshire buys IMI’s two retail units for £690m October 16, 2013 ENGINEERING firm IMI rose to the top of the FTSE 100 yesterday morning, as it unveiled the sale of two non-core assets to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway for $1.1bn (£690m). Investors were warmed by the board’s proposal to return £620m to shareholders and contribute the remaining £70m to the IMI UK pension fund. The sale [...]
Britvic and Barr merger put on ice as watchdog delays tie-up January 14, 2013 THE UK’S trade watchdog has put the brakes on the merger of soft drink giants Britvic and AG Barr after extending the timetable for its probe into the deal. The Office of Fair Trading has put back a decision to green light the merger until the 13 February, giving it more time to scrutinise whether [...]
Britvic and AG Barr investors give green light to £1.5bn deal January 8, 2013 THE MERGER of soft-drinks makers Britvic and AG Barr was rubber stamped by shareholders on both sides yesterday. The deal, which will create one of Europe’s biggest soft drinks firms with a market capitalisation of over £1.5bn, is set to be completed by the end of January. The vote was passed fairly unanimously, although 39 [...]
AG Barr and Britvic agree merger November 14, 2012 AG Barr and Britvic have agreed the terms of an all-share merger, which will create one of the leading soft drinks companies in Europe. The enlarged company, which will be called Barr Britvic Soft Drinks, will have annual sales of £1.5bn. The merger ratio will be 0.816 new AG Barr shares for every Britvic share [...]
Britvic profits fall after Fruit Shoot blunder November 27, 2012 BRITVIC, the soft drinks maker merging with AG Barr, yesterday blamed the costly recall of its Robinsons Fruit Shoot drinks earlier this summer for a 19 per cent slump in full-year profit. The company said the blunder dragged group revenue down 0.8 per cent at constant currencies to £1.3bn in the year to 30 September [...]
IRN-BRU maker AG Barr’s sales fizzing ahead of Britvic merger December 10, 2012 IRN-BRU maker AG Barr’s revenues fizzed nine per cent higher than last year in the 18 weeks to the start of December. The Scottish drinks maker, which is set to merge with Britvic, also saw volume increase by 6.6 per cent for the same period year-on-year. Year-to-date revenues as of 1 December also increased 6.5 [...]
The range of premium mixers produced to raise gin’s spirits October 21, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks luck, liquor and a lightbulb moment with Charles Rolls, co-founder of drinks label Fever-Tree WHILE gin may not be the most popular global spirit (that prestigious title goes to Korean rice wine brand Jinro), the world consumes 440m litres of it each year. But back in 2000, Charles Rolls, co-founder of the [...]
AG Barr agrees to £1.4bn tie-up with rival Britvic November 14, 2012 AG BARR, the Scottish Irn Bru-maker, and rival Britvic yesterday revealed the terms of an all-share merger that will create one of Europe’s largest soft drinks companies with more than £1.5bn of annual sales. The new company will be called Barr Britvic Soft Drinks and will be run by AG Barr’s chief executive Roger White, [...]
Britvic-Barr merger on ice October 3, 2012 THE TWO British firms behind soft drinks Tango and Irn-Bru yesterday delayed a proposed £1.4bn merger to give both sides more time to undertake due diligence on the deal. Britvic, which also makes Robinsons fruit squash, and AG Barr, based in Scotland, asked the Takeover Panel to extend a deadline set for 5pm last night [...]