Drinks Group Britvic Seeks Board Refreshment

Britvic (Other OTC: BTVCF - news) , the soft drinks manufacturer behind Robinsons and J2O, has begun a search for heavyweight figures to refresh its boardroom nearly a decade after it became a separately listed company.

Sky News understands that directors of Britvic have appointed Spencer Stuart, the executive search firm, to identify a successor to senior independent director Bob Ivell.

Mr Ivell, a veteran of the leisure and consumer goods industries, has been on the drinks company's board since November 2005, meaning that he will no longer be deemed to be independent under corporate governance guidelines once he reaches his ninth anniversary of service next week.

While that principle does not apply to the chairs of public companies, sources said on Tuesday that Britvic's chairman, Gerald Corbett, was also planning to step down in the next couple of years.

Mr Corbett, a prominent businessman who ran Railtrack between 1997 and 2000, has also occupied his Britvic role since its flotation by its former shareholders, including PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP - news) , in November 2005.

The company's shares have nearly trebled since its listing.

One insider said that Mr Corbett would oversee the appointment of Mr Ivell's successor and that his own departure was still some time off.

The impending move will trigger changes to two of the key roles on Britvic's board following a strong recovery for the company's shares since it called off a merger with rival AG Barr, the maker of Irn-Bru, last year.

Last month, Britvic said it was upgrading its full-year profit guidance despite what chief executive Simon Litherland described as "challenging market conditions".

It has been expanding rapidly overseas, and now has a presence for Fruit Shoot in every US state thanks to a recent distribution push.

The company, which also owns the Fruit Shoot and Tango brands, was hit by a string of problems including a major product recall under Mr Litherland's predecessor, Paul Moody.

AG Barr's approach resulted in an agreed deal which subsequently fell apart after the companies' valuations diverged during the merger negotiations.

Britvic, which saw its shares close at 679.5p on Tuesday valuing the company at just under £1.69bn, declined to comment.