Radeberger CEO Ulrich Kallmeyer to retire
After nine years at the helm of Germany’s 13.5 million hl Radeberger Group, Mr Kallmeyer had to bid his adieu as Radeberger would not relent on its strict retirement policy.
On this occasion Mr Kallmeyer felt compelled to play down the fact that he had not achieved his goal of raising Radeberger Group’s market share to 20 percent from its current 15 percent by pointing out that this goal had been set for 2010 and thus was not tied up with him personally.
In a farewell interview with the German news agency dpa, Mr Kallmeyer said that he expected prices paid for breweries – as measured in EBITDA multiples – to drop. In the past, EBITDA multiples for German breweries ranged between seven and ten. This is set to change, he insisted.
He also maintained that M&A activity in the German brewing industry would pick up again in the medium-term.
According to Mr Kallmeyer, the first two months of 2009 saw an industry-wide decline in beer sales of 11 percent. That’s partly because wholesalers and retailers decided to stock up in December to ease the impact of price increases scheduled for January 2009.
This year Germany’s beer sales are going to decline 3 percent, Mr Kallmeyer predicted.
Dr Albert Christmann, his successor, has risen through the ranks of Germany’s EUR 7.7 billion Oetker Group, a privately-owned food-to-shipping conglomerate. He will head the Radeberger board whose members include: Frank Krüger (Marketing and Export), Thomas Freese (Distribution) and Managing Director Martin Schiwon. Dr Christmann will be in charge of Human Resources, PR, Logistics, Purchasing, Acquisitions and Legal Affairs.
