Cadbury offloads South African drinks unit
Chocolate maker Cadbury Schweppes today looked set to raise £109m (€156m) following an agreement to sell its South African drinks business Bormor.
The London-based confectionery giant put Bormor up for sale in February at the same time as it agreed to buy South Africa’s leading chewing gum business from Dan Products for £33m (€47m).
Tiger Brands, a food and healthcare company that operates mainly in emerging markets, will buy Bormor subject to clearance by South African competition authorities. The deal is expected to complete in the second half of 2006.
In 2005, Bormor achieved revenues of £74m (€106m) from sales of branded concentrate and other soft drinks in South Africa.
The move for the Dan chewing gum business will give Cadbury a business best known for its Stimorol and Dirol brands. It had revenues of around £9m (€12.9m) in 2005.
Cadbury’s brands include Halls, Trident, Dr Pepper, Snapple, Trebor, Dentyne and Bassett. It employs around 50,000 people.
Around 80% of Cadbury’s sales and profits are generated outside the UK with emerging markets accounting for 30% of confectionery sales.
Today’s deal comes after Cadbury completed the sale of its European drinks unit making Orangina and Oasis for €1.85bn to a private equity consortium in February.
