Deals
Refresco to Buy Cott Beverage Business for $1.25 Billion
- Dutch bottler to pay for deal via borrowing; plans stock sale
- Sale to accelerate Cott’s shift toward water, coffee, tea
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Refresco Group NV agreed to buy the soda business of Canada’s Cott Corp. for $1.25 billion in a deal that may help the Dutch soft-drink bottler fend off an unsolicited takeover offer from a private-equity firm.
Refresco will pay for the deal with debt, and also plans to sell 200 million euros ($233 million) of stock within a year to bolster its financial strength, the Rotterdam-based company said in a statement Tuesday. Shareholders will vote on the transaction at a special meeting Sept. 5, the company said.