THE DAILY BRIEFING

JUICY BOOST

Britvic is swallowing up a Brazilian competitor for £54.5m as it expands overseas. The soft drinks giant has grown rapidly in the South American country after entering in 2015. It said Brazil had the largest concentrates market in the world. Britvic snapped up another juice firm, Ebba, 18 months ago. The latest Brazilian deal is expected to complete in March.

DIGITAL DELIGHT

Bitcoin has hit a three-year high as Chinese traders piled into the digital currency, pushing it above $1,000 a unit. It comes amid fears of a Chinese crackdown on moving money overseas and a fall in the yuan. This drove Bitcoin – which is notoriously volatile – up to highs not seen since November 2013. One unit was worth more than £830 yesterday.

AVIATION TIE- UP

UK- based BBA Aviation and Gama Aviation are merging their US aircraft management and charter operations to create one of the world’s largest businesses of its kind. The new group, Gama Aviation Signature Aircraft Management, will manage around 200 aeroplanes, and is expected to start adding to earnings from 2019.

BOSS OUT

An oil boss has quit the firm he led for nearly ten years. Andrew West has stepped down as a non-executive director of Gulfsands Petroleum, an oil and gas company that works in Syria, Tunisia, Colombia and Morocco. He was chairman from July 2006 until July 2015.

IRISH LINKS

A network has been launched to strengthen trading ties between British and Irish businesses as they confront the challenges of Brexit. The British Irish Chamber of Commerce has created the British Irish Gateway for Trade to bring companies together on either side of the Irish Sea.

NEW CHAIR

The chairman of TSB is also set to chair wealth management firm Tilney Bestinvest. Will Samuel, who oversaw the high street lender’s split from Lloyds after the financial crisis, will seek to grow Tilney’s UK operations. He will take over from Mike Covell, who has been chairman since 2010.

HEDGE DEAL

Man Group has bought property investment manager Aalto Invest. The world’s largest listed hedge fund has paid £20m upfront for Aalto and will hand over three further payments worth up to £147m over eight years.

ENERGY HELP

Small businesses say MPs should do more to help them become energy efficient. The Federation of Small Businesses said members could help the UK meet its targets to cut carbon emissions.

PLATFORMS DITCHED

Legal & General has sold its Cofunds and IPS investment platforms to Dutch rival Aegon for a reported £140m.