SABMiller buys Browar Belgia
SABMiller’s Polish subsidiary, Kompania Piwowarska, has agreed to acquire Browar Belgia from the Belgian brewer, Palm Breweries.
Alan Clark, Managing Director of SABMiller Europe, did not beat about the bush. When asked why SABMiller decided to buy Browar Belgia, he replied that in view of SABMiller’s severe capacity constraints in Poland it proved cheaper to buy capacity than to build it. This is a good indication how desperate the Belgian brewery Palm must have been to sell its Polish subsidiary Browar Belgia. According to SABMiller, the value of the gross assets to be acquired is approximately EUR 65 million.
Of course, the transaction is subject to the approval of the Polish competition authorities.
Browar Belgia operates one brewery situated in Kielce, South East Poland, and has an annual production capacity in excess of 1 million hl. Its principal brands are Wojak, Gingers and Frater.
Although Browar Belgia’s output includes a lot of own label products which SABMiller is most likely to discontinue, Mr Clark said that he hopes to build the Wojak brand (currently 160,000 hl annually) to scale. If all goes to plan, the brand is to sell more than 1 million hl eventually. Already, Kompania Piwowarska is the biggest brewer in Poland with a market share of 39 percent (excluding Browar Belgia).
The company’s product portfolio includes Tyskie - Poles’ favourite beer, Zubr – a former economy brand and now the second largest Polish beer brand, Lech, Dębowe Mocne, Pilsner Urquell, Redd’s, Dog in the Fog, Peroni Nastro Azzurro and Miller Genuine Draft.
Kompania Piwowarska was established in 1999 through a merger of Tyskie Górny Śląsk SA and Lech Browary Wielkopolski SA. In 2003, Kompania Piwowarska acquired the Dojlidy Brewery in Białystok from Germany’s Radeberger Group, which forms part of the privately-owned Oetker Group.
In the year ended 31 March 2007, Kompania Piwowarska reported revenues of PLN 4.4 billion (EUR 1.15 billion) and net profit of PLN 693 million (EUR 167 million). Sales volume amounted to 13 million hl, says SABMiller.
