Britvic rejects £3bn approach from Carlsberg, shares fizz

Shares in Britvic soared in early trading on Friday, after the soft drinks firm rejected a fresh approach from brewing giant Carlsberg Group.

The FTSE 250 company confirmed it had received an unsolicited proposal from Carlsberg at 1,250p per share, valuing it at around £3.1bn.

That was an improvement on the Danish firm’s first approach, made at the start of June, of 1,200p per share, and a premium of around 23%.

But in a brief statement on Friday, Britvic said that, after carefully considering the revised offer, it had been unanimously rejected.

The UK firm said it believed the proposed offer had "significantly" undervalued the business.

However, it did not rule out the possibility of a future deal, noting: "The board remains confident in the current and future prospects of Britvic. It recognises its fiduciary duties and will consider any further proposal on its merits."

As at 0830 BST, shares in Britvic had jumped 15% to 1,165p. Carlsberg was off 8%.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "While there is no guarantee that any takeover will happen, the news is the latest confirmation that there are many overseas companies running a slide rule over UK Plc.

"The resultant M&A activity is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it recognises that there are many well-run businesses who are trading at a discount to their true value and are therefore attractive bid targets.

"On the other hand, it reduces the number of listed companies, which is a real concern for policymakers and has yet to be addressed."

Founded in the 1930s, Britvic’s brands include Fruit Shoot, Robinsons and J20, among others. It also markets and sells PepsiCo brands in Great Britain and Ireland.