Britvic and Barr merger passes shareholder vote

Shareholders at Britvic and AG Barr have given the thumbs for the companies to merge.

The firms expect the merger to go through on January 30th 2013.

Under the terms of the merger Britvic shareholders will receive 0.816 AG Barr shares for every Britvic share held.

This means Britvic shareholders will end up controlling 63% of the combined company and AG Barr shareholders 37%.

However, the Barr name gets top billing in the new name of the group, which will be Barr Britvic Soft Drinks.

As for the divvying up of management positions, AG Barr's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Roger White, will hold the same position in the combined group, while John Gibney, currently CEO of Britvic, will be Chief Financial officer of the combined group.

The combined group will have a formidable portfolio of brands, including Irn-Bru, Robinsons, Fruit Shoot and J20.

Britvic also enjoys a strong relationship with US soft drinks leviathan, Pepsi Cola and the latter has given the thumbs-up to the merger.