History
The company was founded in the mid-nineteenth century in Chelmsford as the British Vitamin Products Company. It started producing fruit juices in 1938 and started marketing them under the Britvic name in 1949.
Acquired by Showerings of Shepton Mallet, and subsequently a division of Allied Breweries from 1968, the company changed its name to Britvic in 1971. In 1986 it merged with Canada Dry Rawlings and acquired the R. White's Lemonade brand. It acquired Tango from Beechams in 1987 and since that year it has also owned the UK franchise for Pepsi and 7 Up. In 1995 it bought Robinson's from Reckitt & Colman.
In December 2005 the Company underwent an initial public offering (IPO) allowing its main shareholders (InterContinental Hotels Group, Whitbread, Pernod Ricard) to realise their investments.
In May 2007 the Company went on to buy the soft drinks and distribution businesses of Ireland's Cantrell & Cochrane (C&C) for £169.5m.
On 14 November 2012 the Company agreed to merge with Scotland's AG Barr, producer of famous Scottish soft drinks Irn Bru, Tizer and D'n'B, to create one of Europe's largest soft drinks companies.
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