Britvic enters Brazil market with acquisition; third-quarter revenue up 1%

23rd Jul 2015 08:41

(ShareCast News) - Britvic announced the acquisition of Brazilian soft drinks company Empresa Brasileira de Bebidas e Alimentos (Ebba) for around £113.6m.The transaction, which will be partly funded from the proceeds of a placing of new ordinary shares, provides Britvic with immediate access to the sixth largest soft drinks market and the largest concentrates market globally. The company said it aims to at least double Ebba's core earnings and significantly grow margins by 2020.Simon Litherland, chief executive officer of Britvic, said: "The acquisition of Ebba represents a unique opportunity to acquire a high quality business in a substantial soft drinks market, with exciting future growth potential. Ebba operates in categories where Britvic has a proven capability of building new markets, accelerating innovation and establishing brand leadership." In a separate statement, Britvic reported a 1% rise in group revenue to £322.3m, driven by a volume increase of 2.0% for the 12 weeks to 5 July.It said this represented a solid performance in challenging trading conditions, and compared to last year when third-quarter reported revenue grew 5.3%.Litherland said: "Despite continued challenging market conditions, we remain confident of delivering further profitable growth in 2015, in line within our guidance range of £164m to £173m, and we continue to invest behind the long-term drivers of growth."