Britvic

Britvic plc (LSE: BVIC) is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name.

Britvic plc
Public
Traded asLSE: BVIC
FTSE 250 Component
IndustrySoft drinks
Founded1845 (1845)
HeadquartersHemel Hempstead, England, UK
Key people
ProductsBritvic 55
Robinsons
Tango
J2O
UK and Ireland licensee of PepsiCo products
Revenue£1,545.0 million (2019)
£130.0 million (2019)
£80.9 million (2019)
Number of employees
4,795 (2019)
SubsidiariesRobinsons
Websitewww.britvic.co.uk
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3]

History
Canned fruit juices by Britvic (2011)

The company was founded in the mid-twentieth century in Chelmsford as the British Vitamin Products Company.[4] It started producing fruit juices in 1938 and started marketing them under the Britvic name in 1949.[5] Acquired by Showerings of Shepton Mallet, and subsequently a division of Allied Breweries from 1968, the company changed its name to Britvic in 1971. In 1986 it merged with Canada Dry Rawlings and acquired the R. White's Lemonade brand. It acquired Tango and the Corona brand from Beechams in 1987 and since that year it has also owned the UK franchise for Pepsi and 7 Up.[6] In 1995 it bought Robinson's from Reckitt & Colman.[7]

In December 2005 the company underwent an initial public offering (IPO) allowing its main shareholders (InterContinental Hotels Group, Whitbread, Pernod Ricard) to realise their investments.[8] In May 2007 the Company went on to buy the soft drinks and distribution businesses of Ireland's Cantrell & Cochrane (C&C) for £169.5m.[9]

On 14 November 2012 the company announced plans to merge with Scotland's soft drink's producer A.G. Barr, whose brands include Irn-Bru, Tizer and D'n'B, which would have created one of Europe's largest soft drinks companies.[10] The merger was put into serious doubt[11][12][13] after the Office of Fair Trading referred the merger to the Competition Commission.[14] On 11 July 2013, A.G. Barr Chairman Ronnie Hanna announced that the proposed merger of Britvic and A.G. Barr had been abandoned.[15]

In May 2017, PepsiCo announced that it had decided to sell up to all of its long-held 4.5 per cent stake in Britvic.[16]

Operations
Britvic House, the old Britvic headquarters in Chelmsford

Although most of its operations are concentrated in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the company now exports to over 50 countries. Its corporate headquarters moved from Chelmsford, Essex to Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, in March 2012.[17]

United Kingdom

The company owns a number of drink brands in the UK including Britvic mixers, R. White's Lemonade, Tango, Robinson's and J2O – as well as being the licensed bottler for PepsiCo products within the UK. In 2008 Britvic launched Gatorade in the UK, after securing the rights to do so from PepsiCo. In May 2010, Britvic launched a UK only drink called Mountain Dew Energy. It tastes similar to its American counterpart, but has a lower caffeine and sugar content.[18]

Ireland
Britvic facility in Gortrush Industrial Estate in Northern Ireland (2008)

After their failed IPO C&C's sold their soft drink brands to Britvic, resulting in the company now owning a number of brands in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, including, Ballygowan Water, Britvic, Cidona, MiWadi, and Energise Sport as well as the rights to the Pepsi and 7 Up brands in the territory through its bottling agreements with PepsiCo.[19]

France

Britvic bought Fruité Entreprises in May 2010 for £298 million. It has since renamed the business Britvic France. It is mainly a fruit juice business, unlike the GB&I businesses that focus on soft drinks.[20]

Brazil

In 2015 Britvic acquired ebba (Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos SA), located in São Paulo,[21] and in 2017 Bela Ischia, located in Rio de Janeiro.[22]

Current brands

Current brands are as follows:[2]

Cordials

Water

  • Ballygowan
  • Drench

Carbonated soft drinks

  • Tango
  • Club (Ireland)
  • Purdey's
  • Britvic 55
  • London Essence Company
  • R. White's Lemonade
  • TK (Taylor Keith) Lemonade (Republic of Ireland)
  • C&C Lemonade (Northern Ireland)
  • Energizer (Ireland)
  • Cidona

Other

  • Energizer Sport (Ireland)
  • Amé
  • J2O
  • Fruité (France)
  • Jus de Fruits (France)
  • Pressade (France)
  • Teisseire (France)

Licensed from PepsiCo

gollark: ¡TJ09!
gollark: Yep!
gollark: I'll probably just have my shards pile up forever with nothing to do with them.
gollark: Fixed?
gollark: Probably.

References
  1. "Executive". www.britvic.com.
  2. "Britvic 2019 Annual Report" (PDF). Britvic. p. 5, 86.
  3. "Companies House Company Profile". Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  4. Britvic to close Chelmsford factory and put hundreds out of work BBC, 22 May 2013
  5. 500 staff – and Britvic chief – face axe in merger with AG Barr The Independent (London), 15 November 2012
  6. A simple approach to coaching makes a difference at Britvic Coaching & Mentoring Network
  7. "Robinsons - Long linked with the Wimbledon tennis championships, the drinks-maker is today about more than barley water". Campaign Live. 1 August 2002. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  8. Britvic IPO to value drinks group at up to £537m Financial Times (London), 25 November 2005
  9. Britvic Agrees to Buy C&C's Soft-Drinks Division CNBC, 14 May 2007
  10. AG Barr and Britvic agree to merger BBC, 14 November 2012
  11. "UPDATE 1-Britvic merger with A.G. Barr under threat". Reuters. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  12. Ruddick, Graham (13 February 2013). "AG Barr and Britvic merger thwarted by the Office of Fair Trading". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  13. "Britvic's AG Barr merger referred to competition authorities". This is Money. 13 February 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  14. "OFT refers soft drinks merger to Competition Commission - The Office of Fair Trading". Oft.gov.uk. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  15. "AG Barr abandons bid for Britvic". BBC News. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  16. GmbH, finanzen.net. "PepsiCo Plans To Sell All Of Its 4.5% Stake In Britvic". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  17. Dawson, Freddie (23 March 2012). "Britvic to create 30 jobs in HQ move". foodmanufacture.co.uk. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  18. "Britvic launches Mountain Dew Energy". Just Drinks. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  19. "Britvic Ireland returns to growth". Irish Examiner. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  20. "Britvic to buy France's Fruite for €237m". The Daily Telegraph. 18 May 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  21. "Britvic enters Brazilian market as it snaps up soft drink maker Ebba". The Daily Telegraph. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  22. "Britvic to acquire Brazilian juice firm Bela Ischia for £54.5m". Irish News. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
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