3rd Jan 2017 07:21
LONDON (Alliance News) - Soft drinks maker Britvic PLC on Tuesday said it is buying Brazilian concentrates and juice business Bela Ischia Alimentos Ltda for BRL218 million, or around GBP54.5 million at current exchange rates.
Britvic, which makes the Robinsons squash and J2O juice drink brands, said it will fund the acquisition from existing debt facilities, just over a year after it bought Brazilian soft drinks company Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos SA and concentrate brands Maguary and Dafruta in Brazil in late 2015.
Britvic expects to achieve "substantial" annual cost synergies from its latest acquisition and anticipates the merger to be earnings per share accretive in the first full year of ownership. Revenue benefits are also expected to be generated from marketing the wider brand portfolio across a wider geographical presence.
In its last full year, Bela Ischia delivered double-digit revenue growth to BRL160 million and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of BRL18.5 million.
Britvic expects completion of the acquisition to occur by the end of March.
"The proposed acquisition of Bela Ischia represents an exciting opportunity to build on our very strong first year in Brazil with further expansion of our presence in a large and growing soft drinks market. Bela Ischia operates in a category where Britvic has proven capability of generating growth, launching new products and establishing brand leadership and is an excellent complementary fit with our existing business," Chief Executive Simon Litherland said in a statement.
"We are confident that this complementary acquisition should create a fantastic platform to consolidate our strategic position in Brazil and generate additional shareholder value over the coming years," he added.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected]; @KarolinaAllNews
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