Kegworth drinks bottler sold in £960m deal
Kegworth-based Cott Beverages, which bottles drinks such as Old Jamaica ginger beer and Ben Shaws Dandelion & Burdock in the East Midlands, has been sold to European rival Refresco in a deal worth £960m.
Refresco is an independent bottler of soft drinks and fruit juices for retailers and A-brands with production in Benelux, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the UK and the US
The transaction includes Cott’s North America, UK and Mexico businesses.
Hans Roelofs, Refresco’s chief executive officer, said: “We are excited to welcome Cott Beverages to the Refresco family. We have been focused on growing our platform in both North America and Europe and this transaction is a significant enhancement to our buy and build strategy which will provide Refresco with enlarged scale, synergies, and savings alongside Refresco’s manufacturing footprint, geographic diversity, product range and customer service.”
He added: “We will now have a well-balanced portfolio with exposure to all categories for retailers in North America and Europe in addition to a scale contract manufacturing footprint throughout these geographies from which to continue to grow both organically and by pursuing our buy and build strategy.”
