PAI Partners and bcIMC €1.6 billion acquisition of Refresco

Overview:

• French private equity fund PAI Partners and Canadian fund the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (bcIMC) have agreed to buy Rotterdam-based bottling company Refresco for a total cash consideration of more than €1.623 billion (offering €20 per share).
• The buyers will also assume the company's debts, accrued largely from its all-debt $1.25 billion purchase of US bottling group Cott Beverages in July 2017.
• The target had refused a lower bid from PAI Partners of approximately €1.4 billion in April 2017.
• The accepted offer price represents a premium of approximately 22% to the average share price, 41% to the April share price at the time of the earlier rejected bid and 38% to the IPO price in December 2015.
• JPMorgan Securities acted as financial adviser to Refresco on the transaction, with Rabobank serving as independent financial adviser to the company's supervisory board. Rothschild and Credit Suisse were the financial advisers to the bidding consortium.

Jon Moore - Journalist