Compelling deal for Carlsberg but lacking in fizz for Britvic investors

Bottles of R Whites lemonade on a conveyor belt at Britvic's bottling plant in London.
Photograph: Luke MacGregor/Reuters

What was it that Ian Durant, chairman of Britvic, the Fruit Shoot, J20 and R White’s lemonade firm, was saying about Carlsberg’s last bid at £3.1bn, or £12.50 a share? Here it is: the offer “significantly undervalues Britvic, and its current and future prospects”. What he really meant, it turns out, is that the Danes were offering close to fair value and Britvic’s board would roll over for a bump of a mere 5% in price.

So it was that Carlsberg’s improvement to £13.15, or £3.3bn, was accompanied by a fine display of verbal gymnastics from the Britvic boardroom on Monday. The new bid offers “compelling” strategic logic plus the certainty of cash for shareholders, said Durant. The modestly superior new terms reflect the “the current strength and medium-term prospects”.