Primo Water Corporation (formerly Cott Corporation) is an American-Canadian water company offering multi-gallon bottled water, water dispensers, self-service refill water machines, and water filtration appliances. The company is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and services residential and commercial customers across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Israel.
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Business Services |
| Founded | 1952 |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Chairman: Jerry Fowden President and CEO: Tom Harrington CFO: Jay Wells |
| Products | Water, water dispensers, refill machines, filtration equipment |
| Services | Home and office bottled water delivery, pre-filled multi-gallon bottled water and self-service water refill available at retail locations, and filtration services. |
| Revenue |  US$1.953 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 2, 2021)[1] |
 –US$0.052 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 2, 2021)[1] | |
| –US$0.131 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 2, 2021)[1] | |
| Total assets | US$3.604 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 2, 2021)[1] |
| Total equity | US$1.346 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended January 2, 2021)[1] |
Number of employees | 10,400 |
| Website | https://primowatercorp.com/ |
Founding
editCott Beverage Corporation was founded in 1923 by Solomon Cott, a Polish immigrant, with his sons Harry, Barney, Jack and Albert in Port Chester, New York. Harry Pencer, a clothier from Montreal, Quebec, began to import Cott sodas into Quebec in 1952. In 1955, Pencer acquired the Canadian rights to the Cott label and established Cott Beverages (Canada) Ltd., to bottle the Cott line of sodas. From 1976 to 1991, Cott expanded its distribution throughout Canada and back into the U.S. and into Europe.[2] In 1969, the name was changed to Cott Beverages Ltd., and in 1991 to Cott Corporation.[3]
Acquisitions
editIn October 2000, Concord Beverages, with its Vintage brand seltzer water, was acquired from Honickman Group.[4] In July 2010, Cott announced its acquisition of Cliffstar Corporation, a US supplier of store-supplied and made juice beverages.[5]
Beginning in 2014, Cott expanded via acquisitions predominantly in the bottled water industry and exited the carbonated beverages business. In May 2014, Cott completed the acquisition of Aimia Foods (Holdings) Limited, a privately held producer and distributor of hot chocolate, coffee and powdered beverages, hot and cold cereal products located in Merseyside, United Kingdom.[6] In December 2014, Cott completed the acquisition of DSS Group, Inc. a bottled water and coffee direct-to-consumer home and office delivery services provider in the United States. The aggregate consideration was approximately $1.25 billion.[7]
In January 2016, Cott completed the acquisition of Aquaterra, a Canadian bottled water and coffee delivery services provider, for approximately C$62 million.[8] Eight months later, Cott acquired Eden Springs, a European water and coffee deliverer, for approximately €470 million,[9] and premium coffee roaster S&D Coffee and Tea, for approximately $355 million.[10]
On January 30, 2018, Cott sold its carbonated soft drinks and juice bottling businesses to Refresco for US$1.25 billion.[11] The transaction included the Cott business units in North America, the U.K. and Mexico.[12] That October, Cott announced the acquisition of Mountain Valley Spring Company from Great Range Capital for $78.5 million[13] The next February, Cott announced the sale of its soft drink concentrate production facility and RCI International division to Refresco for US$50 million.[14]
In January 2020, Cott sold S&D Coffee and Tea to Westrock Coffee Company, LLC for US$405 million.[15]
On March 2, 2020, Cott completed its purchase of Primo Water Corporation for US$775 million.[16] As part of the purchase agreement, Cott rebranded as Primo Water Corporation and changed its ticker symbols to NYSE:PRMW and TSX:PRMW.[17]
In July 2022, Primo Water Corporation acquired Georgia-based Highland Mountain Water for an undisclosed sum.[18]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Primo Water Corporation 2021 Annual Report" (PDF). primowatercorp.com. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ History of Cott Corporation – FundingUniverse. Fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved on July 24, 2012.
- ^ Cott Corporation (March 7, 2001). "FORM 10-K" (filing for the SEC). Retrieved September 16, 2011.
- ^ Cott Corporation Has Acquired Honickman Group's Concord Beverage To Strengthen U.S. Presence; Earnings, Excluding One-Time Gain, Triple In The 7th Profitable Quarter. Findarticles.com. Retrieved on July 24, 2012.
- ^ Friend, David (July 8, 2010). "Analyst applauds Cott's acquisition". The Star. Toronto.
- ^ "Cott Announces U.K. Business Unit's Acquisition of Aimia Foods" (Press release). Marketwired. 30 May 2014.
- ^ "Cott Announces Closing of DS Services Acquisition" (Press release). Marketwired. 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-07-03. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
- ^ "Cott Announces Closing of Aquaterra Acquisition" (Press release). Marketwired. 5 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
- ^ "Eden Springs to be acquired by Cott Corporation for €470 ($525) million". Florida Trend. 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2018-12-04.
- ^ "Cott Announces Closing of S&D Acquisition and Date for Modeling Conference Call" (Press release). Marketwired. 11 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
- ^ Griffin, Justine (July 25, 2017). "Cott Corp. sells beverage manufacturing business for $1.25 billion". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- ^ Arthur, Rachel (January 31, 2019). "Refresco completes acquisition of Cott's bottling activities". Beverage Daily. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- ^ Schultz, Clark (2018-10-15). "Cott acquires Mountain Valley Spring Company". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ Corporation, Cott. "Cott Announces the Sale of its Soft Drink Concentrate Production Business and RCI International Division to Refresco in an All-Cash Transaction". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2021-01-14.
- ^ Corporation, Cott. "Cott Announces Agreement to Sell S&D Coffee & Tea to Westrock Coffee in an All-Cash Transaction". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2021-01-14.
- ^ Corporation, Primo Water (2020-01-13). "Cott Announces the Acquisition of Primo Water Corporation and Continues its Transition Into a Pure-Play Water Solutions Provider". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Retrieved 2021-01-14.
- ^ Corporation, Cott. "Cott Announces Completion of Acquisition of Primo Water Corporation and With Closing the Sale of S&D Coffee and Tea to Westrock Coffee on February 28th Transitions Into a Pure-Play Water Solutions Provider". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2021-01-14.
- ^ "Primo Water Corp. Acquires Highland Mountain Water". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2022-07-21.