Britvic Rejects Second Carlsberg Acquisition Proposal

Beverage company Britvic PLC (LON: BVIC) confirmed Friday that it has received a second takeover proposal from Carlsberg Group on June 11, 2024.

This cash offer valued Britvic shares at 1,250 pence each, following an earlier rejected bid of 1,200 pence per share submitted on June 6.

Britvic's board, in consultation with advisors, said it unanimously deemed the revised offer to “significantly undervalue” the company and its future prospects. As a result, the proposal was rejected on June 17.

Despite rejecting the bid, Britvic, which has brands such as Robinsons, Gatorade, Lipton, J20, and many more under its banner, expressed confidence in the company's future, emphasising its commitment to shareholder value.

However, they added that they will consider any future proposals based on their merit.

Carlsberg now faces a deadline of July 19, 5:00 PM, to either announce a firm offer or publicly declare its withdrawal from the acquisition process.

Britvic reported its interim results in May with revenue for the six months ended March 31, 2024, increasing 11.2% to £880.3 million. Its adjusted EBIT increased 17.7% to £100.4 million.

The company noted strong consumer demand for its brands, with first-half volume coming in at +4.4%. There was robust growth in all three of its business units, achieving revenue, contribution and margin expansion.

“As expected, our market-leading growth comes from the combination of another strong performance from our scale family favourite brands, coupled with accelerated growth in Brazil and across multiple new growth spaces, such as London Essence, Aqua Libra and Plenish,” said Simon Litherland, Britvic CEO.

“Looking forward, I am confident that we will deliver a strong full-year performance.”