AG Barr buys Fentimans for £38m
Soft drinks giant AG Barr, owner of Funkin Cocktails and Irn-Bru, has acquired UK-based mixer producer Fentimans for £38 million (US$52m).
The Scottish soft drinks giant announced it had purchased the British mixer brand in a trading update for its 2025-2026 financial results. The deal was completed on 2 January 2026.
The acquisition was announced alongside AG Barr’s purchase of fruit juice brand Frobishers for £13m (US$17.8m). The group expects efficiencies from both deals to come through from the second half of its financial year.
AG Barr said: “Both brands operate in the attractive adult soft drinks market, which is benefitting from the consumer trend of reduced alcohol consumption.
“These acquisitions reflect the execution of further meaningful and targeted M&A [mergers and acquisitions] to elevate growth through broadening the brand portfolio while providing opportunities for cost synergies.”
Based in Northumberland, Fentimans produces a range of soft drinks and mixers, including Ginger Beer and Rose Lemonade. The tonic line features flavours such as Pink Grapefruit, Valencian Orange, Pink Rhubarb, Oriental Yuzu and Elderflower & Rose.
AG Barr also announced that its revenue grew by approximately 4% to £437m (US$599.4m) for the year ending 31 January 2026.
It noted that marketing and distribution activities for Irn-Bru helped deliver ‘modest growth’ in the second half of the year, following a ‘flat’ first half. It added that good performances from exotic fruit-based brand Rubicon and energy drink Boost helped to offset a decline for Funkin, which produces cocktail mixers and ready-to-drink products.
AG Barr also highlighted that it has a ‘strong’ brand activity pipeline for the rest of the year, including redesigns of Irn-Bru and Rubicon.
Euan Sutherland, CEO of AG Barr, said: “We are pleased to report a strong year that highlights delivery of our strategic priorities. Our top and bottom-line performance for FY25/26 is in line with expectations, and importantly we have laid strong foundations for future growth.
“We enter FY26/27 with good momentum in our core brands and from the introduction of exciting new products. In-line with our strategy of enhancing our organic growth with M&A, we are delighted to announce the acquisitions of Fentimans and Frobishers.
“The synergies associated with these acquisitions are expected to drive meaningful accretion over the medium term. Underpinning all our activity is our consistent focus on efficiency, margin and growing shareholder returns.”
The mixer category saw its volume and value drop in Britain’s grocery channel in the year to November 2025, according to Fentimans’ latest market report released last month.
Last summer, AG Barr took full ownership of alcohol-free ‘spirits’ brand Strykk, established by Funkin founder Alex Carlton in 2018.
AG Barr acquired Funkin for £16.5m (US$21.6m) in 2015.
In other mixer M&A news, Fever-Tree sold an 8.5% stake to brewing giant Molson Coors for £71m (US$88.4m) last year.
Meanwhile, the bottling arm of The Coca-Cola Company purchased premium mixer brand Three Cents in 2022.
In June 2020, the Heineken family acquired a minority stake in UK-based mixer producer Double Dutch.
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