Raising a glass: Carlsberg ads have featured Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen
A major Britvic investor has called on Carlsberg to improve its takeover offer for the group.
Aviva, which is one of the top 10 shareholders in Britvic, the maker of Robinsons soft drinks, said a merger of the companies would bring benefits but the offer price was too low.
Britvic revealed last week that it had rejected two offers from the Danish brewer. The highest bid was valued at £3.1 billion. The FTSE 250 firm said it “carefully considered” the second offer but it was still too low to accept.
Kunal Kothari, UK equity fund manager at Aviva, said Carlsberg has “room to be more generous” with another offer.
According to him, the beer giant could benefit significantly from an acquisition, for example because the companies distribute drinks to similar customers. Kothari said: “Whether or not we support the deal depends on whether the offer price values the business adequately.”
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 in the coming years as an independent company.
Carlsberg has until July 19 to submit a final offer. Its £3.1 billion bid, at 1,250 pence a share, was about 29 percent higher than Britvic’s share price before speculation about a deal arose. Last week, PepsiCo, which has a bottling contract with Britvic, said it would not stand in the way. This removed a potential hurdle.
Carlsberg’s acquisition of Britvic is one of a series of deals affecting the City, many of which have come from overseas bidders.
Dubai-based engineer Sidara has until Wednesday to make a final offer for Wood Group.
International Distributions Services, owner of Royal Mail, Keywords Studios and Tyman are among London-listed companies targeted by foreign suitors. Carlsberg is trying to expand its business “beyond beer” at a time when young people drink less than previous generations. Britvic shares were trading at 1,181 pence on Friday, below Carlsberg’s offer price. Analysts in the City have said the company is likely to need to offer at least 1,300 pence a share to go ahead.
Carlsberg declined to comment.