AB-InBev to start brewing Budweiser in 2018
As Budweiser is the official sponsor of the next Football World Cup and Nigeria will take part in the tournament, AB-InBev will do the logical thing and start brewing the beer domestically as of 2018, it was reported on 23 November 2017.
What’s more, AB-InBev will complete the construction of its USD 250 million brewery in Sagamu near the capital Lagos next year. It will be AB-InBev’s fourth brewery in the country and its second largest in Africa.
At present AB-InBev is conducting a merger of its three Nigerian breweries –International Breweries Plc (based in Ilesha), Intafact Breweries Ltd (based in Onitsha), and Pabod Breweries Ltd (based in Port Harcourt) – into International Breweries Plc. The new enlarged company, whose installed capacity exceeds five million hl, will be listed on the stock market around mid-December 2017.
When AB-InBev acquired SABMiller in 2016, it became the owner of the three merging companies and now will be the major shareholder, controlling over 70 percent of the shares.
Recently, the London-based Financial Times reported that Guinness Nigeria, a subsidiary of drinks company Diageo, has seen its market share drop to 17 percent in 2016, while AB-InBev managed to hike its share to 15 percent. The market is led by Nigerian Breweries, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Heineken, whose share sits at 69 percent.
