Ölfus, Iceland (June 22, 2011)— Icelandic Water Holdings ehf, makers of the award-winning, CarbonNeutral® natural spring water from Iceland, Icelandic Glacial, announced today that it has formed a strategic alliance with The Bidvest Group Limited, the Johannesburg-listed industrial investment company.
Bidvest will invest $13.5m into Icelandic Water Holdings initially for a stake of 14.59% with the right to raise their interest to 20% in the future. Bidvest CEO, Brian Joffe, will take a seat on the Board and it is expected that Bidvest will take a leading role in the distribution of Icelandic Glacial into new markets.
“These are exciting times for Icelandic Water Holdings,” remarked Jon Olafsson, chairman and co-founder of Icelandic Glacial. “We are delighted to welcome Bidvest as a partner in our business. Their investment will enable us to broaden the range of products which we offer and the international reach of Bidvest’s distribution operations will greatly assist our entry into new territories.”
“We believe Icelandic Glacial has huge potential in the international marketplace which we know well,” remarked Brian Joffe, CEO of Bidvest, “We are delighted to be able to support this strategic business during a key stage in its development.”
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About Icelandic Glacial Natural Spring Water™
Born and bottled in Ölfus, Iceland, Icelandic Glacial™ is the world’s first certified CarbonNeutral® natural spring bottled water for both product and operations. An environmental pioneer in the industry, Icelandic Glacial™ uses 100% natural green energy in the form of geothermal and hydroelectric power to fuel production, delivering a super-premium bottled water from pristine Iceland to consumers while maintaining a “net zero” carbon footprint.
The source of Icelandic Glacial™ is Iceland’s legendary Ölfus Spring, a naturally replenished catchment zone formed during a massive volcanic eruption more than 4,500 years ago. The Spring has been deemed certifiably sustainable by Zenith International, Europe’s leading food and drinks consultancy. The Ölfus Spring produces water so pure that nothing is added or taken away. As a result, Icelandic Glacial™ possesses exceptional balance that is the envy of the industry, featuring a naturally occurring low mineral content and naturally high alkaline pH level of 8.4.
As a testament to its exceptional purity, Icelandic Glacial™ was chosen by Parfums Christian Dior as the exclusive hydration method to be used in their Diorsnow line of skin-lightening beauty products to be released in 2012.
Icelandic Glacial™ is distributed in the United States by Anheuser-Busch, which took a 20 percent ownership stake in the company in July 2007 and subsequently increased its stake to over 23%.
For more information about Icelandic Glacial™, visit www.icelandic.staging.wpengine.com. Follow us on Twitter @ ”IcelandicWater” and Facebook @ “Icelandic Glacial Water”
About Bidvest
Bidvest is a diversified industrial company, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange South Africa, and is one of the largest global foodservice distribution companies. Bidvest foodservice interests include 3663 First for Foodservice, one of the largest foodservice distributors in the UK. Additionally Bidvest owns national foodservice distributors in Australia, Belgium, greater China, Czech Republic, Dubai, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia and South Africa. For more information about Bidvest visit http://www.bidvest.com.