Britvic braced for £600m takeover bid from Permira

SOFT drinks company Britvic could be the subject of a £600 million takeover bid as early as today.

The maker of brands including Robinsons and Tango only listed on the stock market in December, being floated by its major shareholders, InterContinental Hotels, Whitbread and Pernod Ricard.

Since then it has disappointed investors as the changing drinking habits of health-conscious consumers led to two profit warnings.

According to reports, private equity giant Permira will table an offer this week - possibly as early as today.

One potential stumbling block is a change-of-control clause held by PepsiCo, which has a bottling and distribution agreement with Britvic.

It is thought that the contract, which has more than 17 years to run, scuppered a previous attempt to sell the business five years ago.

Britvic shares closed 5 per cent higher at 231.75p on Friday after an upbeat trading update signalled that the company may finally be getting to grips with its recent troubles.

As part of the Chelmsford-based group's fightback, it has launched a number of new products - Drench, Pennine Spring and Fruit Shoot H2O - in the first half of this year.

The update sent shares above Britvic's flotation price of 230p for the first time since late March. The firm's 3,000 or so employees were each handed shares worth 750 at the time of the flotation and could realise those investments if the Permira offer pushed ahead.

Britvic was founded in the middle of the 19th century when the British Vitamin Products Company was established in Chelmsford, run from a chemist's shop making lemonades, mineral waters and tonics.

The current business was established in the middle of the 1980s when Whitbread, Bass and Allied Breweries merged their soft drinks businesses. Bass later became InterContinental Hotels, while Allied is now part of Pernod Ricard.

Britvic revenues grew by 0.4 per cent in the 20 weeks to 3 September, helped by growth of 7.5 per cent in still drinks.