Refresco CEO: Cott acquisition not defense against private equity interest
AMSTERDAM, July 25 (Reuters) - Refresco's $1.25 billion acquisition of Canadian bottler Cott is in "no way" a defensive move aimed against protecting it from private equity buyers, the Netherlands-based company said on Tuesday.
Refresco Chief Executive Hans Roelofs said the deal will add 29 production sites, 19 of them in the United States, making it the largest bottler there and in Britain.
The Cott deal comes three months after Refresco rejected a $1.5 billion takeover offer from French private equity investor PAI Partners. (Reporting by Anthony Deutsch, editing by Louise Heavens)
