Italian packaged mineral water producer San Benedetto Group has bought a spring water plant that closed four years ago.

San Benedetto said yesterday it has acquired the north Italian Acqua Paradiso, which shut down in 2017, for an undisclosed fee. The group plans to spend EUR10m (US$12m) on a refurbishment project and reopen the site within four months.

A spokesperson for San Benedetto told just-drinks today the previous owner of the site, Emilian Unibread, went bankrupt.

Acqua Paradiso, in Italy’s Friuli Venezia Giulia region, joins five other Italian spring water sources in the San Benedetto portfolio, including Venetian site Scorzè and Donato in the northern city of Biella. San Benedetto started diversifying its spring water sources in 2015 in a bid to reduce transport emissions.

The group produces a number of packaged waters under its namesake bottled water brand including Elegance, Baby Bottle, Libera, Benedicta and the glass-bottled Prestige Rose Edition. It also partners with Irn Bru owner AG Barr. In 2018, AG Barr released a flavoured San Benedetto sparkling beverage in the UK.

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