Molson Coors said to contemplate sale of European unit
USA | Following Molson Coors’ recently announced restructuring programme, analysts are wondering if it might pave the way for an asset sale.
Advisory firm Evercore ISI has speculated that Molson Coors may be interested in selling its European operations. The idea isn’t all that farfetched, given Molson Coors’ assertion that its Europe business would be “structured to allow for standalone operations” as part of its restructuring plan.
As the website thefly.com had the story on 20 November 2019, Evercore’s analyst Robert Ottenstein put the idea to Carlsberg's CEO Cees ‘t Hart during a conference call, and Carlsberg’s CEO confirmed that “we can only share with you that we heard the same, but obviously, we’re not commenting on that.”
Molson Coors’ European business accounts for about 18 percent of group sales and 15 percent of group profits (EBITDA).
Molson Coors’ European unit in figures
Headquartered in Prague, the European unit operates 12 breweries, five craft breweries and one cidery. It sold about 23 million hl beer and beverages in 2018 – or 25 percent of the group’s global volumes. The majority of its sales are in the UK, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Romania. It employs about 6,600 people.
Molson Coors reported that European profits (EBITDA) were USD 379 million in 2018, down from USD 413 million in 2017. Media say that Molson Coors saw a 3.4 percent drop in sales in its third quarter 2019 for the European business and a 19 percent decline in pre-tax income.
