Refresco Holding B.V. (Refresco), a major European manufacturer of fruit juices and soft?

drinks, today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Sun Beverages Company N.V.?

(SBC),a soft drinks and mineral water producer with operations in Belgium, France and The?

Netherlands. The transaction is expected to close in the next six weeks, subject to various?

approvals, including that of the competition authorities.?

The acquisition of SBC is a significant acquisition for Refresco as SBC emphasises on?

co-packing soft drinks and mineral water in PET bottles and cans, which is a strong complement to Refresco  juices business.

The acquisition of SBC follows Refrescos recent acquisitions of Kentpol in Poland and Histogram in the UK.

Under the Refresco umbrella SBC will continue to execute its growth strategy in Europe.?

While the businesses are complementary, no redundancies are expected.?

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Commenting on the acquisition Mr. Hans Roelofs, Chief Executive of Refresco said: This?

acquisition represents a significant step for Refresco as it adds substantial scale to our core?

Western European markets. SBC brings us a leading position in Belgium and considerably?

strengthens our Dutch and French operations with a complementary soft drinks business. We?

look forward to working in partnership with the management and employees of SBC in?

growing the business further.?

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Mr Dennis Jones, Chief Executive of SBC, stated: This is an exciting opportunity for SBC.?

We have excellent businesses in soft drinks and mineral water in France, Belgium and The?

Netherlands. We look forward to working with Refresco to build upon this base and further?

develop the business in the future.? ?

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