CUSTOMER FOCUSED.

PROVIDING PACKAGING SOLUTIONS SINCE 1992

Author: Jeremy Kumin

JBT Completes Bevcorp Acquisition

CHICAGO, September 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — JBT Corporation (NYSE: JBT), a global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food and beverage industry, announced today it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Bevcorp.

“We are excited to announce that we completed the acquisition of Bevcorp,” said Brian Deck, President and Chief Executive Officer. “The acquisition of Bevcorp expands JBT’s capabilities in the carbonated beverage processing and packaging market, and it brings a highly resilient business model with more than 60 percent recurring revenue along with a best-in-class service culture. The unique combination of Bevcorp and JBT allows for meaningful cross selling and future growth opportunities in both food and beverage.”

Bevcorp Overview

Bevcorp is a leading provider of equipment and aftermarket support for the beverage processing and packaging market in the United States. The business provides core technology solutions in blending, handling, filling, and closing to a range of diverse customers, including blue chip companies. Bevcorp’s product offerings are used in high-value segments of the beverage market, including carbonated soft drinks, seltzers, carbonated water, energy drinks, and ready-to-drink alcoholic blends. Additionally, the business’ unique process know-how and service culture provide a resilient mix of rebuilds, aftermarket parts, and services.

“By integrating Bevcorp into the JBT family of brands and leveraging our global sales and service network, we can expand Bevcorp’s growth opportunities beyond the United States,” added Deck. “Additionally, JBT’s existing strength in non-carbonated beverage and food processing creates cross selling synergies with Bevcorp.”

JBT acquired Bevcorp for an enterprise value of $290 million, subject to customary post-closing adjustments. The transaction was treated as a purchase of assets, which provides a meaningful tax step-up benefit with a net present value of approximately $35 million.

Bevcorp Guidance

The table below reflects guidance specific to Bevcorp and is relative to the Company’s prior guidance. 2022 Bevcorp adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted earnings per share exclude the estimated impact of transaction costs, inventory step-up, and non-recurring integration costs. These costs are expected to be approximately $9 million. Bevcorp is not expected to have a meaningful impact on the Company’s adjusted earnings per share in 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

JBT Net Leverage Ratio

JBT utilized its existing credit facility to fund the purchase price of Bevcorp. The Company’s third quarter 2022 net leverage ratio is expected to temporarily exceed its target of 2.0 – 3.0x, and JBT expects that its net leverage ratio will be below 3.0x by year end 2022.

JBT Corporation (NYSE: JBT) is a leading global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food & beverage industry with focus on proteins, liquid foods and automated system solutions. JBT designs, produces and services sophisticated products and systems for multi-national and regional customers through its FoodTech segment. JBT also sells critical equipment and services to domestic and international air transportation customers through its AeroTech segment. JBT Corporation employs approximately 7,000 people worldwide and operates sales, service, manufacturing and sourcing operations in more than 25 countries.

This release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are information of a non-historical nature and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are beyond JBT’s ability to control. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements relating to the expected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and our results of operations, our plans to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, our strategic plans, our restructuring plans and expected cost savings from those plans, our liquidity and our covenant compliance. The factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from expectations include but are not limited to the following factors: the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the pandemic on our ability to operate our business and facilities, on our customers, on our workforce resulting in higher labor absenteeism, on our supply chains due to extended delivery times and unavailability of required components and freight, on our cost of labor due to higher labor turnover and shortage of skilled labor and on the economy generally; fluctuations in our financial results; unanticipated delays or acceleration in our sales cycles; deterioration of economic conditions; disruptions in the political, regulatory, economic and social conditions of the countries in which we conduct business; changes to trade regulation, quotas, duties or tariffs; risks associated with acquisitions or strategic investments; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; increases in energy or raw material prices, freight costs, and inflationary pressures; changes in food consumption patterns; impacts of pandemic illnesses, food borne illnesses and diseases to various agricultural products; weather conditions and natural disasters; impact of climate change and environmental protection initiatives; our ability to comply with the laws and regulations governing our U.S. government contracts; acts of terrorism or war, including the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine; termination or loss of major customer contracts and risks associated with fixed-price contracts, particularly during periods of high inflation; customer sourcing initiatives; competition and innovation in our industries; difficulty in implementing our business strategies, including the timing of our previously announced review of strategic alternatives for the AeroTech platform, our ability to identify or develop any strategic alternatives, execute on material aspects of such strategic alternatives, and whether we can achieve the potential benefits of such strategic alternatives. our ability to develop and introduce new or enhanced products and services and keep pace with technological developments; difficulty in developing, preserving and protecting our intellectual property or defending claims of infringement; catastrophic loss at any of our facilities and business continuity of our information systems; cyber-security risks such as network intrusion or ransomware schemes; loss of key management and other personnel; potential liability arising out of the installation or use of our systems; our ability to comply with U.S. and international laws governing our operations and industries; increases in tax liabilities; work stoppages; fluctuations in interest rates and returns on pension assets; availability of and access to financial and other resources; and other factors described under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K  filed by JBT with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in any subsequently filed Form 10-Q. In addition, many of our risks and uncertainties are currently amplified by and will continue to be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the highly fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not possible to predict all such risks and uncertainties. JBT cautions shareholders and prospective investors that actual results may differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. JBT undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, subsequent events or changes in circumstances or otherwise.

Investors & Media: Media: Kedric Meredith +1 312 861 6034

To view the original version on PR Newswire, please click here.

Bevcorp Introduces New MicrO2 for Carbonated Soft Drinks

Bevcorp’s MicroBlend division introduces their MicrO2 Advantage Series Blending System for carbonated soft drinks (CSD) at Pack Expo Las Vegas booth #LS-6302. This patent-pending technology deaerates blended product to achieve significantly lower dissolved oxygen (DO) and nitrogen levels than traditional blending systems that feed can and bottle fillers. With lower DO levels, MicrO2 supports higher filling speeds, improves fill weight control to increase yields, reduces operating costs and helps retain superior flavor over the shelf life of the packaged beverage.

“As the world’s only carbonated soft drink blending system that deaerates blended product, MicrO2 is a game changer. Customers with installed systems are very excited about the technology and the benefits they’re experiencing,” said Jay Exley, Director of Operations at MicroBlend. “The sparging process that MicrO2 uses to deaerate is similar to what the beer industry has done for years, except we’ve accelerated the process and developed other innovations that make it suitable for CSD manufacturers as well as winemakers and other beverage manufacturers.”

Unlike systems that deaerate prior to blending, MicrO2 deaerates fully-blended product. Compared to traditional systems that deliver DO levels of 1.8 parts per million (ppm) to the filler, MicrO2 typically delivers DO levels of 0.1 ppm for sugary soft drinks and 0.3 ppm for diet soft drinks. With MicrO2, MicroBlend guarantees a DO level of 0.8 ppm or less for packaged product, even if the  filler picks up

oxygen during the filling process. Modern fillers with pre-purge systems and older fillers that have been modified with a basic bowl purge will minimize the reintroduction of oxygen after MicrO2 to maintain DO levels of 0.1 to 0.3 ppm in the packaged product.

Reducing DO levels improves the stability of the beverage during packaging. With less foaming, MicrO2 supports higher filling speeds, allows for higher product temperatures to reduce refrigeration costs and improves net weight control to increase yields. Lower product volatility also minimizes opportunities for expelled gases to be reintroduced, which keeps DO levels down during filling, and results in greater CO2 consistency. A further benefit of MicrO2 is that reduced DO levels in the packaged product helps to maintain the flavor of the beverage throughout its expected shelf life and potentially provides increased shelf life.

MicrO2 is perfect for CSD beverage manufacturers filling steel or aluminum cans as well as PET or glass bottles. It is ideal for use with cans that feature new, first-generation BPA-NI (BPA non-intent) liners that are more susceptible to DO than BPA-lined cans. This is particularly important when using cans from canmakers that guarantee “no leakers” only for filled cans with DO levels less than 1.2 ppm.

Traditional blending systems use either CO2, vacuum or membrane technology to deaerate the water prior to blending. This allows the DO that is naturally present in the syrup to be introduced to theblended product and results in higher DO levels. Even if the syrup is deaerated prior to blending, the latent volatility of traditionally blended product picks up oxygen and results in elevated DO levels. The proprietary MicrO2 process uses sparging technology to inject CO2 into blended product to deaerate the entire mix and achieve low DO levels. Most of the CO2 used to deaerate is retained, at which time the system increases pump pressure and injects the additional required CO2 to carbonate the product to the customer’s specifications.

Additionally, by eliminating vacuum or membrane deaeration used on traditional systems, MicrO2 offers a more compact footprint and presents fewer moving parts and fewer wear parts to reduce maintenance. With less energy and CO2 consumption, MicrO2 minimizes operating costs. Rebates associated with energy-saving programs may be available from utility providers before and/or after installation to further reduce investment costs and improve ROI.

Equipped with MicroBlend’s standard tanks, MicrO2 blends and carbonates 50 to 180 gallons per minute. Larger, optional tanks enable MicrO2 to produce up to 250 gallons per minute. The systems can typically be changed over to handle a new product in less than 10 minutes, depending on the size of the filler. With the addition of MicroBlend’s independent rinsing option, product changeovers can be accomplished in eight to eight-and-a-half minutes. Compared to traditional blending systems that require a vacuum deaerator or membranes to be cleaned, MicrO2 offers an inherently more sanitary design because deaeration occurs within the filler’s normal CIP (clean-in-place) path.

Customers using other blending systems from MicroBlend may be eligible for a significant cost-savings trade-in when upgrading to MicrO2 since some tanks, meters, sensors and other electronics can be repurposed.