The companies announced the agreement last July, saying it would create an "enlarged international group" that can expand into "multiple drinks sectors". Justice Hildyard sanctioned the takeover at a short hearing on Wednesday, stating the scheme "could be and should be approved". Andrew Thornton KC, for Britvic, said in written submissions that the company was "the largest supplier of branded still soft drinks and the number two supplier of carbonated soft drinks in Great Britain". The hearing in London was told that the deal will see Britvic taken over by Carlsberg UK Holdings Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Carlsberg AS, which Thornton described as "one of the world's largest international brewing groups" with a market capitalisation of DKK118 billion, or GBP13 billion.