North-east flavoured water brand Macb is under new ownership following a takeover deal valuing the international business behind it at around £6.6 billion.
Macb is part of global beverage bottler and contract manufacturer Refresco, which has just been acquired by US-based investment company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).
Refresco, whose global operations are headquartered in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, produces more than 6.5 million gallons of some of the world’s favourite soft drinks every day.
Its takeover by KKR has already been approved by all regulatory authorities, meaning the Macb factory in Macduff, Aberdeenshire, is now part of KKR’s worldwide portfolio.
Other businesses owned by KKR include marine energy and infrastructure company Acteon Group, the parent of north-east firms Utec NCS Survey, Bruce Anchor, InterMoor and Aquatic Engineering & Construction, J2 Subsea and Seatronics.
KKR has taken a majority stake in Refresco, with existing investors PAI Partners and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation maintaining a “significant” minority interest.
Refresco chief executive Hans Roelofs said: “I am excited to start the next chapter in the development of our company, with KKR as our new majority owner. We will continue to execute our strategy, focused on growing alongside our customers and expanding into new categories and geographies.
“We look forward to leveraging KKR’s capabilities, operational expertise and commitment to sustainability to further strengthen our position and achieve our vision of ‘our drinks on every table’.”
Refresco’s UK arm employs about 1,650 people across six production sites producing a variety of beverages, including carbonated and still soft drinks, flavoured and unflavoured still and sparkling water, fruit juice and juice-based drinks, “freezables” and ready-to-drink alcohol. The company works with both drink brands and retailers.
The Macduff operation boasts a three-acre production facility employing about 20 people.
Refresco acquired the north-east plant in 2018, when it snapped up a chunk of the business of US drink giant Cott, nearly doubling its production capacity in the process.
The £935 million deal included Cott Macduff, previously known as Sangs, along with other Cott UK beverage manufacturing and bottling businesses, as well as US, Canadian and Mexican operations.
Florida-headquartered Cott had acquired Sangs six years earlier, rescuing the business from administration and, as a result, saving the jobs of its entire 60-strong workforce.
Sangs (Banff) – now Refresco Macduff – was founded in Aberdeen in 1896 and moved to Macduff, where it sources its spring water, in 1974. Today’s range of sugar-free, natural Macb spring water drinks includes strawberry & kiwi, lemon & lime, apple & blackcurrant, peach, raspberry & cranberry and watermelon flavours.
In 2017 there was dismay among stockists and many consumers across the north-east when it was announced the factory’s popular Moray Cup drink was being axed due to the impending “sugar tax”.
A last-ditch but, ultimately, unsuccessful campaign to save the fizzy drink was backed by hundreds of people on social media and also Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid, who went to school in Macduff.
At its peak, it is thought the popularity of Moray Cup even rivalled Coca-Cola and Irn-Bru in the north-east. For years it was drunk to wash down fish suppers or as part of a playground snack.
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