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A major investor in Britvic has called on Carlsberg to sweeten its takeover offer for the group.
Aviva, which is a top ten shareholder in Britvic, the maker of Robinsons soft drinks, said there would be benefits to a merger of the companies but that the bid price was too low.
Britvic revealed last week it had rejected two bids from the Danish brewer. The highest offer valued it at £3.1 billion. The FTSE 250 firm said it ‘carefully considered’ the second offer but that it was still too low to accept.
Kunal Kothari, UK equities fund manager at Aviva, said Carlsberg has ‘scope to be more generous’ with another bid.
He said the brewing giant could benefit significantly from a takeover – for example because the firms distribute drinks to similar customers. Kothari said: ‘Whether we support the deal or not depends on whether the offer price values the business appropriately.’
He added that the current deal was not high enough because it did not take into account how Britvic’s finances are expected to improve over the next few years as a standalone company.
Carlsberg has until July 19 to table a final bid. Its £3.1 billion offer, of 1250p per share, was around 29 per cent higher than Britvic’s share price before speculation about a deal emerged. Last week PepsiCo, which has a bottling contract with Britvic, said it would not stand in the way. This removed a potential roadblock.
Carlsberg’s pursuit of Britvic is one of a slew of deals gripping the City – many of which have been from foreign bidders.
Dubai-based engineer Sidara has until Wednesday to make a final offer for Wood Group.
Royal Mail-owner International Distributions Services, Keywords Studios and Tyman are among the London-listed firms targeted by overseas suitors. Carlsberg is trying to expand its business ‘beyond beer’ in an age where younger people are drinking less than previous generations. Britvic’s shares were trading at 1181p on Friday – lower than Carlsberg’s offer price. City analysts have said the company is likely to need to offer at least 1300p per share to move forward.
Carlsberg declined to comment.
