TIDMBVIC TIDMBAG
RNS Number : 8581I
Britvic plc
09 July 2013
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION (IN WHOLE OR IN
PART) IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD
CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH
JURISDICTION
This announcement is not an announcement of a firm intention to
make an offer under Rule 2.7 of the City Code on Takeovers and
Mergers (the "Code") and there can be no certainty that an offer
will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer will be
made.
For Immediate Release
9 July 2013
Britvic plc
Competition Commission clears possible merger
Britvic plc ("Britvic") notes today's announcement from the
Competition Commission (the "CC") that it has formally approved the
possible merger between Britvic and A.G. BARR p.l.c. ("A.G. Barr").
The CC's final decision is that the possible merger is not expected
to result in a substantial lessening of competition.
Full details of the CC's final report are available on the CC's
website at:
http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/our-work/directory-of-all-inquiries/ag-barr-britvic
Britvic's Chairman, Gerald Corbett, commented, "The merger
lapsed in February when the deal was referred to the Competition
Commission. We would obviously consider any proposal tabled in the
interests of shareholders. However, Britvic is in a very different
position to last summer when the merger was agreed. We have a new
Chief Executive in Simon Litherland, who has done a fantastic job
in implementing his new plan for Britvic. The Board is confident of
driving GBP30 million of cost savings over the next three years and
of the enhanced international expansion opportunities. In addition,
performance has improved, the merger benefits are materially less
than they were and our share price is almost twice the level it
was. Britvic's prospects as a stand-alone company are bright."
As required by Note 3 of Rule 2.5 of the Code, Britvic confirms
that this announcement is being made without the prior agreement or
approval of A.G. Barr and that there can be no certainty that an
offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any offer might be
made.
Enquiries
Britvic plc
Gerald Corbett +44 (0) 1442 284300
Simon Litherland
John Gibney
Rupen Shah
Steve Nightingale
Citigroup Global Markets Limited (joint financial adviser and
joint broker to Britvic)
David Wormsley +44 (0) 207 986 4000
Jan Skarbek
Andrew Seaton
Nomura International plc (joint financial adviser and joint
broker to Britvic)
Ed Matthews +44(0) 207 521 2000
Nicholas Marren
Brunswick (PR adviser to Britvic)
Mike Smith +44(0) 207 404 5959
Nick Cosgrove
Citigroup Global Markets Limited, which is authorised and
regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA, is acting exclusively
for Britvic and for no-one else in connection with the possible
merger and will not be responsible to anyone other than Britvic for
providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing
advice in connection with the matters set out in this
announcement.
Nomura International plc, which conducts its UK investment
banking business as Nomura, is authorised and regulated in the
United Kingdom by the FCA and is acting as joint broker and joint
financial adviser to Britvic and for no-one else in connection with
the possible merger. Nomura will not be responsible to anyone other
than Britvic for providing the protection afforded to its clients
or for providing advice in connection with the matters set out in
this announcement.
This announcement is for information purposes only and is not
intended to and does not constitute, or form part of, an offer,
invitation or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise
acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of any
securities, or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any
jurisdiction.
Disclosure Requirements of the Code
Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Code, any person who is interested in
1% or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree
company or of any paper offeror (being any offeror other than an
offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer
is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening
Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period
and, if later, following the announcement in which any paper
offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must
contain details of the person's interests and short positions in,
and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i)
the offeree company and (ii) any paper offeror(s). An Opening
Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be
made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th business
day following the commencement of the offer period and, if
appropriate, by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th
business day following the announcement in which any paper offeror
is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant
securities of the offeree company or of a paper offeror prior to
the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead
make a Dealing Disclosure.
Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Code, any person who is, or becomes,
interested in 1% or more of any class of relevant securities of the
offeree company or of any paper offeror must make a Dealing
Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the
offeree company or of any paper offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must
contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's
interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any
relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any
paper offeror, save to the extent that these details have
previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a
person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by no later than
3.30 pm (London time) on the business day following the date of the
relevant dealing.
If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or
understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an
interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a paper
offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose
of Rule 8.3.
Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree
company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be
made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons
acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and
8.4).
Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose
relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing
Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on
the Takeover Panel's website at http://www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk,
including details of the number of relevant securities in issue,
when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first
identified. If you are in any doubt as to whether you are required
to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure, you
should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20
7638 0129.
Publication on Website and Availability of Hard Copies
A copy of this announcement will be made available, free of
charge, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons
resident in restricted jurisdictions, on Britvic's website at
http://ir.britvic.com by no later than noon (London time) on the
day following the date of this announcement. For the avoidance of
doubt, the contents of Britvic's website are not incorporated into
and do not form part of this announcement.
You may request a hard copy of this announcement by contacting
the Company Secretary of Britvic at
company.secretariat@britvic.co.uk (or on +44(0)1442 284411) or by
writing to Britvic plc, Breakspear Park, Breakspear Way, Hemel
Hempstead, HP2 4TZ. You may also request that all future documents,
announcements and information to be sent to you in relation to the
possible merger should be in hard copy form.
Rule 2.10 Disclosure
In accordance with Rule 2.10 of the Code, Britvic confirms that
as at the date of this announcement, it has in issue 244,857,354
ordinary shares of 20 pence each with ISIN Number GB00B0N8QD54. All
of these shares carry voting rights of one vote per share. Britvic
does not currently hold any shares in treasury. Britvic has a Level
1 American Depositary Receipt programme under which ordinary shares
of 20 pence each are traded in the form of American Depositary
Shares on the OTCQX market. The ordinary shares of 20 pence each
traded in the form of American Depositary Shares, on a ratio of one
ordinary share to two American Depositary Shares, are included
within the total set out above. The above figure (244,857,354) may
be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by
which they will determine if they are required to notify their
interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under
the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
MERBCGDRUSGBGXI
Britvic (LSE:BVIC)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jun 2024 bis Jul 2024
Britvic (LSE:BVIC)
Historical Stock Chart
Von Jul 2023 bis Jul 2024