Cott Corporation has announced the sale of its soft drink concentrate production business and its RCI International division (Cott Beverages LLC) to Refresco for USD50 million, who in turn sold the RCI worldwide branded activities to RC Global Beverages Inc.

Cott Beverages LLC is a leading developer and manufacturer of soft drink concentrates for bottlers in more than 70 countries, generating approximately USD80 million in sales during 2018 including concentrate production directly supporting Refresco’s beverage manufacturing business.

“This transaction is the final step in the transformation of our business where selling the remaining business unit of the traditional carbonated soft drinks business is consistent with our strategy of accelerating the growth across our platform in water, coffee, tea, extracts and filtration solutions,” commented Tom Harrington, Cott’s Chief Executive Officer.

Hans Roelofs, CEO Refresco comments: “We are pleased to add Cott’s Columbus concentrate manufacturing facility to Refresco North America. It adds extensive innovation capabilities and skills and creates a global centre of excellence for beverage concentrate manufacturing. It is a perfect fit with our business. We have decided to divest the RCI International branded activities and find an owner who can bring similar focus and continuity to this iconic brand. With RC Global Beverages Inc.The sale of Columbus from Cott to Refresco and the sale of the RCI International activities from Refresco to RC Global Beverages Inc. took place simultaneously.”

Cott.com