Highland Spring has agreed to buy the bottled water division of Dublin-based Greencore Group plc for £17.5 m. The move will establish the Scottish company as the largest bottled water supplier in the UK.

As a result of acquiring Campsie Spring in Lennoxtown and Blaen Twyni in Wales, Highland Spring will become Britain’s biggest bottled water company with some 400 employees, five bottling plants and 12 production lines with a capacity of 700m litres a year.
 
Greencore Group, one of Europe’s leading convenience food producers, is selling its water company to focus on its core businesses.  The deal includes the transfer of its entire workforce of 124.
 
Greencore Water produces own label bottled water for a range of multiple grocers and food service clients.
 
The acquisition also creates a platform for Perthshire based Highland Spring to expand its portfolio of British brands with Greencore Water’s existing private label customers. 
 
It has already been claimed that the Greencore Water business will now benefit from Highland Spring’s marketing experience, with the brand employing a host of Scottish agencies – Merle (advertising), 3x1 (PR), 999 (design), Multiply (promotional) and GRP (digital).
 
Les Montgomery, chief executive of Highland Spring (pictured), said: “This acquisition will mark a major milestone in the history of Highland Spring and complements our expansion strategy perfectly.
 
“The deal will allow us to continue to service the strong customer base that Greencore has built over recent years and develop the distribution of our flagship brand, Highland Spring. We bring more than 30 years of experience to the table and firmly believe that sustained investment and our expertise will allow us to achieve our goal of becoming a £100 million turnover business in the medium term.”