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UK: Was Britvic, AG Barr approval pointless?

By  |  July 9, 2013

Drink giants Britvic and AG Barr overcame a major hurdle in their plans to merge Tuesday as the Competition Commission approved of the deal, but the grant may be futile as Britvic recently abandoned interest in the deal. Reports say the Commission cleared the merger Tuesday after the Office of Fair Trading referred the plan; the referral led the companies to ditch the deal. But now that the acquisition has been granted, Britvic no longer seems interested in pursuing the merger; in a statement also made Tuesday, Britvic stated that its performance has strengthened with shares worth nearly twice they were at the time the merger was planned. AG Barr, however, responded to the Commission’s decision by stating the company would “actively consider” the deal.

Full Content: Businessweek

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