Tidying up the house

Singapore’s Asia Pacific Breweries Limited (APB), jointly owned by Heineken International and Fraser and Neave Limited, announced its intention to make an unconditional takeover offer for the purchase of the 23.09 percent of New Zealand brewer DB Breweries Limited (DB) that it does not already own. It was in 1991 that APB first bought into DB Breweries. In 1993 it raised its equity participation to 54.7 percent.
The offer price is NZD9.50 cash per share. This represents a 20.25 percent premium to the last trade of NZD7.90. The bid values DB at about NZD479 million (USD319 million). This means that APB is entitled to record a relevant interest of 85.25 percent in the capital of DB. The offer is being made
to enable APB to privatise and de-list DB...

Light at the end of the tunnel

Sapporo Holdings Ltd announced that it expects to post a profit in the first six months of the 2004 business year; the first time in four years, due mainly to higher sales of its Draft One beer-like alcoholic beverage. The Japanese company said that it hopes profit to rise by 120 percent to a record JPY14.7 billion (USD133.8 million) for the year to 31 December. The brewer had initially projected a 32 percent decline for 2004 to JPY4.6 billion. The company mentioned it believes group sales will rise by 2 percent this year, while net profit should leap by 110 percent to JPY5 billion. The major Japanese brewery said it expects its group net balance to swing into the black in the period to 30 June 2004 with a profit of JPY2.7 billion, a turnaround from a loss of JPY6...

Seizing opportunities

As China is shaping up to be the main strategic battleground for businesses in the 21st century, Carlsberg (helped by the Danish Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries) has decided to acquire 50 percent of the Lanzhou Huanghe Brewery’s operations in the Gansu and Qinghai provinces in western China.
The deal involves three breweries in Gansu province and one as yet to be built brewery in the Qinghai province. Construction will start this summer.
Carlsberg and the Fund have paid a total of DKK115 million (USD19 million) for the four breweries, which equals USD17 per hl installed says Carlsberg. This year the breweries are to sell 1.6 million hl of beer..

On a growth track

Australia’s third largest brewer, Coopers Brewery, has enjoyed its second consecutive year of double digit growth with total beer sales rising 16.4 percent during 2003/2004. In the 12 months to 30 June 2004, Coopers’ sales of bulk or kegged beer rose by 26.4 percent, while packaged beer sales were up 14.1 percent. Coopers’ Managing Director, Dr Tim Cooper, said the results had been fuelled by growing demand nationally for premium beers, which currently make up about 8 percent of the total Australian beer market. Coopers Brewery has started an AUD7 million (USD8 million) expansion programme at its Regency Park brewery in Adelaide to meet rising demand.

Sobering up

Australia’s leading juice maker Berri Ltd will sell a 50 percent stake to Filipino beverages giant San Miguel Corp, which will give Berri an entry into the Asian market. San Miguel, the largest Philippine food and beverage company, said that it valued Berri at AUD236 million (USD169 million) but did not reveal the price it paid. Last year Berri was a target for Coca Cola Amatil Ltd in an AUD300 million takeover attempt which was rejected by the competition watchdog. The remaining 50 percent of Berri are held by the Australian agribusiness company ICM Group.
This is San Miguel’s second investment in Australia. In 2000, it established a presence with its acquisition of the Tasmanian brewer J. Boag & Son for an estimated sum of USD55 million..

I make you an offer you cannot refuse

Heineken has reached an agreement with its Kazakhstani co-shareholders to increase its stake in the Dinal brewery from 51 percent to 97 percent. No price was mentioned but Heineken says it financed the transaction from its available cash resources. Heineken acquired its initial 28 percent stake in 1999, the year in which Dinal commenced production, and raised its stake to a controlling stake of 51 percent in 2002. Dinal has a market share of 8.8 percent with the local brand Tian Shan and the international brand Amstel....

SABMiller against Anheuser-Busch- take one

rrespective of what you read and hear these days - China is it. At the moment, China, like the United States, makes up 25 percent of the world beer market. But whereas the U.S. accounts for 30 percent of the global brewing profit pool, China accounts for only two percent. This has not stopped SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch from slugging it out over the past few weeks in their bid for the Hong Kong-listed Harbin Brewery. In the end, SABMiller dropped out, ending a multi-million dollar battle for control of China’s fourth largest brewer. SABMiller had offered HKD4.30 a share for Harbin, valuing the fourth-largest player in China’s fast-growing beer market at USD550 million.
SABMiller acquired a near 30 percent stake in Harbin last year, but the partnership soon grew sour.58 a piece.....

The New Great Game A story of black and liquid gold in Central Asia

Among autocrats, bureaucrats and diggers - international brewers are staking their claims in the former Soviet East.

Seen any denim-clad gents with checked shirts and a broad Texan drawl at Istanbul airport lately? Must have been oil exploration geologists or engineers waiting for their connecting flight to the Middle East - without question. These days, though, this simple conclusion would be somewhat outdated. Oil also talks with a distinct Scottish accent, Norwegian, Russian, is nattily dressed and most likely on its way from Istanbul to Baku, the Azerbaijan boom town on the Caspian coast. Or off to Astana, the new capital metropolis on the steppes of Kazakhstan, rivalling the glitzy skyline of Dallas. Only if.....

The young ones

Foster’s did not have to go hunting for an outsider to replace its outgoing CEO Ted
Kunkel - it had already groomed one from its internal talent pool. Only three weeks after Kunkel announced his resignation, Trevor O’Hoy, 48, took his seat. O’Hoy, who joined Foster’s Australian arm, Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) 28 years ago as a cadet before taking on a range of positions, including Managing Director of CUB and Chief Financial Offic-er, faces the challenge of restoring investor confidence in the group.
Foster’s share price has been under serious pressure since the erstwhile Australian brewer bought the Californian wine group Beringer in 2000 for AUD2.9 billion and transformed itself into a branded beer-wine-spirits company.....

The winner is...

... of the 10th Annual Australian Liquor Industry Awards 2003 "Tabelle" The awards system requires on-line voting by liquor retailers who determine the finalists - usually three to five brands per category with a panel of industry experts, such as representatives of industry associations and journalists, selecting the winners.