9th Dec 2005 07:01
Britvic plc09 December 2005 9 December 2005 Not for publication, distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in orinto, the United States of America, Australia, Canada or Japan This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus or a pricingstatement and investors should not subscribe for or purchase any shares referredto in this announcement except on the basis of information in the prospectuspublished by Britvic 2005 (the "Prospectus") and the pricing statement expectedto be issued today in connection with the admission of the ordinary shares inthe capital of the Company to the Official List of the Financial ServicesAuthority and to trading on London Stock Exchange plc's (the "London StockExchange") market for listed securities. Copies of the Prospectus are availablefrom the Company's registered office. BRITVIC ANNOUNCES OFFER PRICE OF 230p PER SHARE AND OFFER SIZE INCREASED TO 181 MILLION SHARES Britvic plc ("Britvic" or the "Company"), one of the two leading soft drinksbusinesses in Great Britain, today announces an offer price of 230p for itsinitial public offering of existing ordinary shares ("Ordinary Shares") toinstitutional investors in the UK and elsewhere (the "Global Offer"). This isset against the price range announced by the Company on 25 November 2005 of 210pto 250p. In addition, the size of the Global Offer has been increased fromapproximately 153 million shares to approximately 181 million shares. At thisoffer price the Company will have a market capitalisation of approximately £494million. Summary of the Global Offer • The number of Ordinary Shares in issue at listing will be approximately 215 million. • Conditional dealings are expected to commence on the London Stock Exchange at 8:00am today, 9 December 2005, under the ticker symbol BVIC. • Admission to the Official List of the Financial Services Authority and commencement of unconditional dealings on the London Stock Exchange is expected to take place at 8:00am on 14 December 2005. • InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, Whitbread Group PLC and Pernod Ricard S.A. have sold, in aggregate, approximately 181 million Ordinary Shares in connection with the Global Offer and representing, in the case of each of Whitbread Group PLC and Pernod Ricard S.A., the disposal of the whole of their interest in the Company. This represents approximately 84.3% of the total issued share capital of Britvic. PepsiCo has retained its 5% stake in the Company. • Over-allotment arrangements (not forming part of the Global Offer), representing up to a maximum 12.7% of the total number of Ordinary Shares comprised in the Global Offer, have been entered into with InterContinental Hotels Group PLC. This could lead to a disposal by InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of up to approximately a further 23 million Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 10.7% of the total issued share capital of Britvic and the disposal of the whole of its interest in the Company. • Citigroup Global Markets U.K. Equity Limited ("Citigroup") and Deutsche Bank AG ("Deutsche Bank") are joint bookrunners for the Global Offer. Commenting on today's announcement, Paul Moody, Chief Executive of Britvic,said: "We are delighted that the global offer has been so well received and we welcomethe new shareholders. The high level of interest demonstrates that investorsrecognise the potential within Britvic and have confidence in our ability todrive future growth. We look forward to starting life as a public company and todelivering value to our shareholders." ________________________ See notes to editors attached Enquiries to: Britvic 020 7404 5959 (for today only)Paul Moody, Chief Executive Officer thereafterJohn Gibney, Finance Director 01245 261 871David Lewis, Director of Corporate Affairs 01245 261 871Julian Mears, Media Communications Manager 01245 261 871 07834 962 542 IHG 01753 410176Gavin Flynn 07808 098 972Paul Edgecliff-Johnson 01753 410425Leslie McGibbon Citigroup 020 7986 6000David Wormsley 020 7545 8000Andrew SeatonAnthony GutmanDeutsche BankJeremy QuinCharles Wilkinson Brunswick 020 7404 5959Tom BuchananMike SmithFiona Laffan The contents of this announcement, which have been prepared by and are the soleresponsibility of the Company, have been approved solely for the purposes ofsection 21(2)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by CitigroupGlobal Markets Limited of Citigroup Centre, Canada Square, London E14 5LB andDeutsche Bank AG of Winchester House, 1 Winchester Street, London EC2N 2DB.Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are acting exclusively for the Company and no oneelse in connection with the Global Offer. They will not regard any other person(whether or not a recipient of this announcement) as their respective clientsand will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing theprotections afforded to their respective clients nor for giving advice inrelation to the Global Offer, the contents of this announcement or anytransaction or arrangement referred to herein. This announcement may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in or into theUnited States, Canada, Australia or Japan. This announcement does not constituteor form part of an offer to sell or issue, or any solicitation of an offer tobuy or subscribe for, any securities referred to herein. The Global Offer andthe distribution of this announcement and other information in connection withthe Global Offer in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and personsinto whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comesshould inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure tocomply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities lawsof any such jurisdiction. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered underthe U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offeredor sold in the United States (as such term is defined in Regulation S under theSecurities Act) unless they are registered under the Securities Act or pursuantto an exemption from registration. No public offer of the Shares is being madein the United States. The price and value of securities may go up as well as down. Persons needingadvice should contact a professional adviser. This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be,"forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identifiedby the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes","estimates", "plans", "projects", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "may","will", or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations orcomparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include matters thatare not historical facts and include statements regarding the Company'sintentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, theCompany's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects,growth, strategies and the outlook on the casual dining industry. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty becausethey relate to future events and circumstances. A number of factors could causeactual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed orimplied by the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, thefactors to be described in the risk factors section of the Prospectus, and thefactors to be described in the financial review and prospects section of theProspectus. Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actualresults. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect theCompany's view with respect to future events as at the date of this announcementand are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks,uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's operations, results ofoperations, growth strategy and liquidity. Save as required by law or by theListing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, the Company undertakes noobligation publicly to release the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this announcement that may occur due to any change in itsexpectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of thisannouncement. Information in this announcement or any of the documents relating to the GlobalOffer cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance. NOTES TO EDITORS About Britvic Britvic's origins can be traced back to the mid-19th century when the BritishVitamin Products Company (abbreviated to Britvic) was established in Chelmsfordand run from a chemist's shop making lemonades, mineral waters and "tonics". Thecurrent business was established in 1986 when Bass (now IHG), Whitbread andAllied Breweries (now Pernod) merged their respective soft drinks businesses toform Britvic Soft Drinks ("BSD"). BSD was originally established to act as thesoft drinks supplier to the pub estates of these three shareholders. With theacquisition of Robinsons, Orchid Drinks, Pennine Spring and the innovation ofJ2O and Fruit Shoot, in particular, Britvic has established itself as amarket-leading soft drinks supplier in its own right. Board and Senior Management team: At flotation the Board and Senior Management team will include the following: Executive Directors: Chief Executive Officer, Paul Moody Paul Moody was appointed Managing Director in October 2003 and is responsiblefor the day-to-day running of the Group's business. He had been Chief OperatingOfficer of the BSD since October 2002. Paul Moody joined the Group in 1996 asDirector of Sales for Grocery Multiples (supermarkets) having previously workedfor Golden Wonder and Pedigree Pet Foods. Paul Moody is also currently theDeputy President of the British Soft Drinks Association. Finance Director, John Gibney John Gibney was appointed Finance Director in 1999 and is responsible forfinance, IT, legal, estates, risk management and business transformation. Priorto joining Britvic, John Gibney was Senior Corporate Finance & Planning Managerfor Bass, and prior to that role, Finance Director and subsequently DeputyManaging Director of Gala Clubs. Non-Executive Directors: Chairman, Gerald Corbett Gerald Corbett was appointed non-executive Chairman on 24 November 2005. Hecontinues to be Chairman of Woolworths Group plc, a post held since March 2001.He is also Chairman of SSL International and Health Club Holdings Limited, theowner of Holmes Place. He is a non-executive director for Greencore plc based inDublin. Gerald Corbett was chief executive of Railtrack PLC from 1997 to 2000,Group Finance Director of Grand Metropolitan PLC from 1994 to 1997 and was GroupFinance Director of Redland PLC between 1987 and 1994. He was a non-executivedirector of the property group MEPC PLC from 1995 to 1998 and Burmah Castrol PLCfrom 1998 to 2000. Director, Joanne Averiss Joanne Averiss was appointed non-executive director on 24 November 2005. JoanneAveriss has been a member of the PepsiCo legal department since 1990 holding aseries of positions in the UK and the US and most recently acting as the head oflegal (UK and Europe) for PepsiCo International's food and snack beveragesdivision. She is also a trustee of the Mesen Educational Trust. Director, Chris Bulmer Chris Bulmer was appointed non-executive director on 24 November 2005. ChrisBulmer was the Group Human Resources Director for Brambles Industries plcBrambles Industries Limited, and prior to that was Group Human ResourcesDirector for Whitbread Group plc. Chris Bulmer also worked for Diageo, Mars,Unilever and Blue Circle. She is also an Independent Trustee Director ofBerkeley Square Pension Trustee Company Limited. Director, Bob Ivell Bob Ivell was appointed non-executive director on 24 November 2005. Prior tojoining Britvic, Bob Ivell was on the board of Scottish & Newcastle plc aschairman of the retail division. He is currently the executive chairman ofRegent Inns Plc, a non-executive director of The Restaurant Group plc, deputychairman of Next Generation Clubs Limited and Next Generation Pacific Limitedand non-executive chairman of Park Resorts Limited. During the 1980s Bob was themanaging director of Beefeater. Director, Michael Shallow Michael Shallow was appointed non-executive director on 24 November 2005.Michael Shallow has been the Finance Director of Greene King plc since 1991,having previously been an associate partner at Andersen Consulting and havingheld a senior accounting role at Kingfisher plc. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
InterContinental Hotels