Offer Price
Britvic plc
09 December 2005
9 December 2005
Not for publication, distribution or release, directly or indirectly, in or
into, the United States of America, Australia, Canada or Japan
This announcement is an advertisement and not a prospectus or a pricing
statement and investors should not subscribe for or purchase any shares referred
to in this announcement except on the basis of information in the prospectus
published by Britvic 2005 (the 'Prospectus') and the pricing statement expected
to be issued today in connection with the admission of the ordinary shares in
the capital of the Company to the Official List of the Financial Services
Authority and to trading on London Stock Exchange plc's (the 'London Stock
Exchange') market for listed securities. Copies of the Prospectus are available
from the Company's registered office.
BRITVIC ANNOUNCES OFFER PRICE OF 230p PER SHARE AND OFFER SIZE INCREASED TO 181
MILLION SHARES
Britvic plc ('Britvic' or the 'Company'), one of the two leading soft drinks
businesses in Great Britain, today announces an offer price of 230p for its
initial public offering of existing ordinary shares ('Ordinary Shares') to
institutional investors in the UK and elsewhere (the 'Global Offer'). This is
set against the price range announced by the Company on 25 November 2005 of 210p
to 250p. In addition, the size of the Global Offer has been increased from
approximately 153 million shares to approximately 181 million shares. At this
offer price the Company will have a market capitalisation of approximately £494
million.
Summary of the Global Offer
• The number of Ordinary Shares in issue at listing will be approximately
215 million.
• Conditional dealings are expected to commence on the London Stock
Exchange at 8:00am today, 9 December 2005, under the ticker symbol BVIC.
• Admission to the Official List of the Financial Services Authority and
commencement of unconditional dealings on the London Stock Exchange is
expected to take place at 8:00am on 14 December 2005.
• InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, Whitbread Group PLC and Pernod Ricard
S.A. have sold, in aggregate, approximately 181 million Ordinary Shares in
connection with the Global Offer and representing, in the case of each of
Whitbread Group PLC and Pernod Ricard S.A., the disposal of the whole of
their interest in the Company. This represents approximately 84.3% of the
total issued share capital of Britvic. PepsiCo has retained its 5% stake in
the Company.
• Over-allotment arrangements (not forming part of the Global Offer),
representing up to a maximum 12.7% of the total number of Ordinary Shares
comprised in the Global Offer, have been entered into with InterContinental
Hotels Group PLC. This could lead to a disposal by InterContinental Hotels
Group PLC of up to approximately a further 23 million Ordinary Shares,
representing approximately 10.7% of the total issued share capital of
Britvic and the disposal of the whole of its interest in the Company.
• Citigroup Global Markets U.K. Equity Limited ('Citigroup') and Deutsche
Bank AG ('Deutsche Bank') are joint bookrunners for the Global Offer.
Commenting on today's announcement, Paul Moody, Chief Executive of Britvic,
said:
'We are delighted that the global offer has been so well received and we welcome
the new shareholders. The high level of interest demonstrates that investors
recognise the potential within Britvic and have confidence in our ability to
drive future growth. We look forward to starting life as a public company and to
delivering value to our shareholders.'
________________________
See notes to editors attached
Enquiries to:
Britvic 020 7404 5959 (for today only)
Paul Moody, Chief Executive Officer thereafter
John Gibney, Finance Director 01245 261 871
David Lewis, Director of Corporate Affairs 01245 261 871
Julian Mears, Media Communications Manager 01245 261 871
07834 962 542
IHG 01753 410176
Gavin Flynn 07808 098 972
Paul Edgecliff-Johnson 01753 410425
Leslie McGibbon
Citigroup 020 7986 6000
David Wormsley 020 7545 8000
Andrew Seaton
Anthony Gutman
Deutsche Bank
Jeremy Quin
Charles Wilkinson
Brunswick 020 7404 5959
Tom Buchanan
Mike Smith
Fiona Laffan
The contents of this announcement, which have been prepared by and are the sole
responsibility of the Company, have been approved solely for the purposes of
section 21(2)(b) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by Citigroup
Global Markets Limited of Citigroup Centre, Canada Square, London E14 5LB and
Deutsche Bank AG of Winchester House, 1 Winchester Street, London EC2N 2DB.
Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are acting exclusively for the Company and no one
else in connection with the Global Offer. They will not regard any other person
(whether or not a recipient of this announcement) as their respective clients
and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the
protections afforded to their respective clients nor for giving advice in
relation to the Global Offer, the contents of this announcement or any
transaction or arrangement referred to herein.
This announcement may not be distributed, directly or indirectly, in or into the
United States, Canada, Australia or Japan. This announcement does not constitute
or form part of an offer to sell or issue, or any solicitation of an offer to
buy or subscribe for, any securities referred to herein. The Global Offer and
the distribution of this announcement and other information in connection with
the Global Offer in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and persons
into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes
should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to
comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws
of any such jurisdiction.
The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under
the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 (the 'Securities Act'), and may not be offered
or sold in the United States (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the
Securities Act) unless they are registered under the Securities Act or pursuant
to an exemption from registration. No public offer of the Shares is being made
in the United States.
The price and value of securities may go up as well as down. Persons needing
advice should contact a professional adviser.
This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be,
'forward-looking statements'. These forward-looking statements can be identified
by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms 'believes',
'estimates', 'plans', 'projects', 'anticipates', 'expects', 'intends', 'may',
'will', or 'should' or, in each case, their negative or other variations or
comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include matters that
are not historical facts and include statements regarding the Company's
intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the
Company's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects,
growth, strategies and the outlook on the casual dining industry.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because
they relate to future events and circumstances. A number of factors could cause
actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, the
factors to be described in the risk factors section of the Prospectus, and the
factors to be described in the financial review and prospects section of the
Prospectus.
Forward-looking statements may and often do differ materially from actual
results. Any forward-looking statements in this announcement reflect the
Company's view with respect to future events as at the date of this announcement
and are subject to risks relating to future events and other risks,
uncertainties and assumptions relating to the Company's operations, results of
operations, growth strategy and liquidity. Save as required by law or by the
Listing Rules of the Financial Services Authority, the Company undertakes no
obligation publicly to release the results of any revisions to any forward-
looking statements in this announcement that may occur due to any change in its
expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this
announcement.
Information in this announcement or any of the documents relating to the Global
Offer cannot be relied upon as a guide to future performance.
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Britvic
Britvic's origins can be traced back to the mid-19th century when the British
Vitamin Products Company (abbreviated to Britvic) was established in Chelmsford
and run from a chemist's shop making lemonades, mineral waters and 'tonics'. The
current business was established in 1986 when Bass (now IHG), Whitbread and
Allied Breweries (now Pernod) merged their respective soft drinks businesses to
form Britvic Soft Drinks ('BSD'). BSD was originally established to act as the
soft drinks supplier to the pub estates of these three shareholders. With the
acquisition of Robinsons, Orchid Drinks, Pennine Spring and the innovation of
J2O and Fruit Shoot, in particular, Britvic has established itself as a
market-leading soft drinks supplier in its own right.
Board and Senior Management team:
At flotation the Board and Senior Management team will include the following:
Executive Directors:
Chief Executive Officer, Paul Moody
Paul Moody was appointed Managing Director in October 2003 and is responsible
for the day-to-day running of the Group's business. He had been Chief Operating
Officer of the BSD since October 2002. Paul Moody joined the Group in 1996 as
Director of Sales for Grocery Multiples (supermarkets) having previously worked
for Golden Wonder and Pedigree Pet Foods. Paul Moody is also currently the
Deputy President of the British Soft Drinks Association.
Finance Director, John Gibney
John Gibney was appointed Finance Director in 1999 and is responsible for
finance, IT, legal, estates, risk management and business transformation. Prior
to joining Britvic, John Gibney was Senior Corporate Finance & Planning Manager
for Bass, and prior to that role, Finance Director and subsequently Deputy
Managing Director of Gala Clubs.
Non-Executive Directors:
Chairman, Gerald Corbett
Gerald Corbett was appointed non-executive Chairman on 24 November 2005. He
continues to be Chairman of Woolworths Group plc, a post held since March 2001.
He is also Chairman of SSL International and Health Club Holdings Limited, the
owner of Holmes Place. He is a non-executive director for Greencore plc based in
Dublin. Gerald Corbett was chief executive of Railtrack PLC from 1997 to 2000,
Group Finance Director of Grand Metropolitan PLC from 1994 to 1997 and was Group
Finance Director of Redland PLC between 1987 and 1994. He was a non-executive
director of the property group MEPC PLC from 1995 to 1998 and Burmah Castrol PLC
from 1998 to 2000.
Director, Joanne Averiss
Joanne Averiss was appointed non-executive director on 24 November 2005. Joanne
Averiss has been a member of the PepsiCo legal department since 1990 holding a
series of positions in the UK and the US and most recently acting as the head of
legal (UK and Europe) for PepsiCo International's food and snack beverages
division. She is also a trustee of the Mesen Educational Trust.
Director, Chris Bulmer
Chris Bulmer was appointed non-executive director on 24 November 2005. Chris
Bulmer was the Group Human Resources Director for Brambles Industries plc
Brambles Industries Limited, and prior to that was Group Human Resources
Director for Whitbread Group plc. Chris Bulmer also worked for Diageo, Mars,
Unilever and Blue Circle. She is also an Independent Trustee Director of
Berkeley Square Pension Trustee Company Limited.
Director, Bob Ivell
Bob Ivell was appointed non-executive director on 24 November 2005. Prior to
joining Britvic, Bob Ivell was on the board of Scottish & Newcastle plc as
chairman of the retail division. He is currently the executive chairman of
Regent Inns Plc, a non-executive director of The Restaurant Group plc, deputy
chairman of Next Generation Clubs Limited and Next Generation Pacific Limited
and non-executive chairman of Park Resorts Limited. During the 1980s Bob was the
managing director of Beefeater.
Director, Michael Shallow
Michael Shallow was appointed non-executive director on 24 November 2005.
Michael Shallow has been the Finance Director of Greene King plc since 1991,
having previously been an associate partner at Andersen Consulting and having
held a senior accounting role at Kingfisher plc.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange