AG Barr and Britvic agree £1.4bn tie-up AG Barr, the Scottish maker of the Irn-Bru drink, has finalised its £1.4bn tie-up with UK rival Britvic, creating one of the largest soft drinks companies in Europe by revenues. After more than two months of talks, both sides agreed on the terms of a deal that will see Britvic's shareholders own 63 per cent of the combined group and AG Barr's investors 37 per cent, roughly in line with their market valuations. The share-split ratio has remained unchanged since the maker of Scotland's biggest soft drink by sales first announced its swoop on the larger rival in September. The merged group will be called Barr Britvic Soft Drinks and will have annual sales of more than £1.5bn. Its legal headquarters will be at AG Barr's existing head office in Cumbernauld, Scotland, while the operational headquarters will be in Hemel Hempstead in southern England, where Britvic is based. The two companies said on Wednesday the merger would enable the group to cut costs by £35m through overhead and procurement savings, as well as supply chain improvements. By selling each other's brands through their respective distribution channels and geographical locations, the merged group aims to boost net revenues by £5m each year. "There are some very strong growth opportunities for the group to exploit once the merger is completed," Roger White, AG Barr's chief executive, said. The two groups have strength in different geographical markets and use different distribution methods. Britvic has expanded into France and other European markets as well as the US in recent years, although the company suffered over the summer after it was hit by a costly recall of its Fruit Shoot children's drinks and wet weather. The two companies said that PepsiCo had agreed certain variations to the contractual terms of the US soft drink maker's exclusive bottling and distribution agreements with Britvic in the UK. They added it had agreed not to exercise any rights to termination it may have as a consequence of the merger. Mr White will take the helm of the combined group while John Gibney, Britvic's chief financial officer, will stay in that role at the larger operation. Gerald Corbett, Britvic's chairman, will become chairman of the new group while AG Barr's chairman Ronald Hanna becomes deputy chairman.