Former Bass chief denies Britvic rumours

Iain Napier, the former chief executive of Bass Brewers, refused to comment on Sunday on a report that he had teamed up with Cinven to mount a bid for Britvic, the soft drinks group. However, it is understood that he has at least been approached by financiers, the Financial Times reported this week. Britvic, jointly owned by Six Continents, Allied Domecq, Whitbread and PepsiCo, is expected to be sold for between £500m and £600m. Its brands include Tango and Robinsons fruit drinks. Mr Napier left Bass Brewers, part of Interbrew, earlier this year. Interbrew's purchase of Bass has been bogged down in a regulatory dispute since the government tried to reverse the deal in January. Interbrew is still waiting to find out how much of Bass it will be allowed to keep. Asked about any Britvic bid, Mr Napier said: "I'm not ruling it out or ruling it in. I never comment on market rumour be it true or false."​ Second round bids for Britvic are due on September 4. If Mr Napier were among the bidders, the newspaper comments that it would present an intriguing competition with Miles Templeman, a former rival at Interbrew, who is fronting a separate offer for Britvic.