Cott Corporation Acquires Cliffstar

Beverage maker Cott Corporation has acquired Cliffstar Corporation, a private label manufacturer of shelf-stable juices, for $500m.

Under the agreement the company is entitled to $14m of deferred consideration, which will be paid over a period of three years, Cott said.

Cliffstar will also pay an additional contingent earnout of up to $55m, based upon the achievement of certain performance measures during the fiscal year ending 1 January 2011.

With $654m revenue, Cliffstar operates 11 facilities in the US including five bottling and distribution operations, three fruit processing facilities, two fruit receiving stations and one storage facility.

The $500m payable at closing and $25m in anticipated transaction costs are expected to be funded by a combination of new debt issuance of up to $375m, new common equity issuance of up to $95m and incremental borrowings under Cott’s asset-based lending facility of $75m.