Cott bottling plant sold to Sunmagic owner
The sale of the bottling plant in Nelson, Lancashire, was part of a divestment agreement with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) when parent company Cott Corporation was acquired by Refresco Group.
The £959m ($1.25m) sale of Cott to Refresco was agreed in July 2017.
The Nelson facility specialises in aseptic polyethylene terephthalate (APET) bottling – a sterile process used in the production of fruit juices, smoothies and juice drinks, and vitamin waters.
Multiple Marketing
Sunmagic owner Multiple Marketing completed the purchase of the site with the help of solicitor firm Joelson.
Sunmagic’s leading brand is its ‘100% Pure’ range of juices, which include orange, apple, pineapple and prune. Packaging formats include 1-litre cartons, 1-litre PET bottles, 330ml cans and 220ml single cartons.
Peter Felix, commercial lead for Sunmagic, said: “We knew that the transaction needed to be completed quickly as the target business was of interest to several parties.”
Richard Barnett, the lead partner in the Joelson team, added: “Divestment arrangements under a CMA timetable have a very short timeframe and there was a lot to consider in a short period.
‘Fantastic opportunity to expand’
“We had to work quickly to ensure the needs of our client were met and they did not miss out on this fantastic opportunity to expand their business.”
As part of the takeover deal, Dutch-headquartered Refresco’s acquired Cott’s factory in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site manufactures the Macb range of still and sparkling flavoured water.
The deal also included Cott’s US and Mexico manufacturing businesses, but excluded its cola company – RCI International – and its associated concentrate facility.
