Bere Mures is now up for sale
Bere Mures, the biggest independent beer producer, has put itself on the market. Its owners are trying to find an investor to pay at least EUR 150 million. Potential buyers include SABMiller, which operates in Romania through its Ursus Breweries subsidiary, and an investment fund.
The Romanian beer market has witnessed phenomenal growth over the years. Beer production amounted to some 17.8 million hl in 2006, a 16 percent increase over 2005. Compared with 10 years, the beer volume has more than doubled, says the Brewers of Romania Association. Average beer consumption in 2006 was 81 litres – which is as high as Poland’s although people in Romania, on the whole, tend to be much poorer.
2007 has witnessed yet another production hike. In the first half of 2007 Heineken’s beer production alone increased by 20 percent to 2.3 million hl.
According to companies in the field, Heineken has a 26.5 percent market share, followed by Ursus Breweries (SABMiller), with a 23 percent share, InBev, which controls 20 percent of this market, and URBB, with a 10 percent share.
As all good times tend to come to an end, Bere Mures has decided that this may be the best opportunity to sell to the highest bidder. The company’s profit, according to media reports, stands at EUR 20 million per year. Moreover, the company has no debts in its balance sheet – so it claims.
What makes Bere Mures an awkward buy for an international brewer is its diversified portfolio. It has three assets: a brewery, a mineral water bottling plant and a leisure and tourism complex. The management of Bere Mures has already told the Romanian media that SABMiller is not interested in its mineral water business.
Indeed – why buy the whole lot if you only want one bit? That’s why an investment fund could be the preferred buyer in the end. They don’t mind the task of breaking up a company in order to sell on the individual pieces.
Bere Mures, which makes Neumarkt, Dracula and Sovata, entered the mineral water market in 2007 when it launched the Cezara sparkling mineral water and the Cheile Cibului still water.
Two years ago, Bere Mures shareholders already wanted to sell the company, with the main candidate back then being InBev. Both companies confirmed the information at the time.
This year, the company’s officials also conducted talks with Baia Mare-based copper producer, Cuprom, which fell through because the price Cuprom offered was lower than asked.
Bere Mures was the first company that introduced the PET bottled beer in 1998, a concept that would revolutionise the beer market in just a few years.
PET bottled beer sales at the end of 2006 accounted for approximately 40 percent of the total beer market, according to the data supplied by the Romanian Brewers Association, compared with only 3 percent in 2001.
