Cott Beverages Acquires Aimia Foods for $80m

02 June 2014 --- UK beverage supplier Aimia Foods has been sold to Canadian group Cott Beverages for $80m. The family-owned company has annual revenues of around £65m and employs more than 240 people.

Cott has added Aimia to its portfolio in order to accelerate its plans for diversification. In addition, its hot and cold beverage portfolio is also of particular interest to the company. Cott currently has operations in Florida, Canada and Mexico so this acquisition marks its first move into the European food and drinks market.

“Aimia has extensive expertise in new product categories, packaging formats and trade channels, such as the packaging of powdered beverages, which we believe enhances the diversification opportunities available to the combined businesses,” said Cott’s chief executive officer, Jerry Fowden. “Aimia’s core strengths lie in the manufacturing, sale and marketing of Aimia-owned and third party licensed beverage brands across all sectors of the UK market, including food service, vending, cash & carry and retail.”

“Aimia has been highly successful in maintaining strong relationships with leading brand owners and outsourcing partners, and we look forward to continuing to build these relationships under Aimia’s current leadership team.”

Aimia Foods makes branded products for a range of customers under licence, including Galaxy, Mars, WeightWatchers hot chocolate, Malteser and No Fear Extreme Energy Drink.