Netherlands-based drinks bottler Refresco has announced that its shareholders have approved the acquisition of Cott’s bottling activities.
The $1.25 billion deal was first announced in July, with the aim of creating ‘the world’s largest independent bottler, with leadership positions across Europe and North America’.
With this approval, Refresco says that an ‘important step’ has been taken towards closing the transaction, which is expecting to take place in the fourth quarter of the year, subject to regulatory approvals.
Strategic Fit
"The bottling activities of Cott are a perfect strategic fit to our current activities,” said Hans Roelofs, CEO of Refresco.
“With this acquisition, we create a nationwide coverage in the US, the largest single soft drinks market globally, while adding significant capacity and extending our broad product portfolio in the UK.”
Roelofs added that this is a “unique, transformational transaction”, which will reinforce the company’s position, and create a company with combined production volumes of approximately 12 billion litres across 59 production sites.
Last month, Refresco announced that revenue for the first six months of 2017 increased to €1,166 million, compared to €1,007 million in the same period last year, driven by continued growth and acquisitions.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
