Britvic disposal
Britvic. Pepsi who owns a minority stake in the company has vetoed
the disposal in the past - but this time observers estimate that
the company could be sold in the region of £1bn, writes Danny
Vincent.
The chief executive of InterContinental Hotel has openly expressed his desire to offload the company. Speaking to an FT journalist he said he would "sell it tomorrow if I could".
US drinks giant Pepsi owns an important element of the business and in the past the company has vetoed the disposal of the juice group. Pepsi has said that it would like the disposal to be postponed to next year.
InterContinental hotels has a 50 per cent stake in the business and the disposal will take place in a three year window starting from January 2005.
The company's sales performance was disappointing in 2003 and analysts claim that the company may need to adopt a more modern approach if it is to succeed in the future. It launched a milk based soda drink last year that underachieved in terms of sales. A Datamonitor analyst said:" Britvic has failed to understand the aspirations of its target consumers."
This is a problem that will need to be addressed by the the company that opts to buy the the group.
The company formally known as the British Vitamin Products Company was formed in the 1930's when the founder recognised that their was a niche market for consumers who wanted an affordable source of vitamin C. The company found a way to bottle fruit juices without the use of preservatives.
It is reported that Pepsi still remains nervous on the disposal deal.
