E-Malt.com News article: 598

SABMiller plc, the world’s second largest brewer, reported in a statement on February 04, that its subsidiary in Poland, Kompania Piwowarska S.A. (KP) will acquire a 98.8% stake in the Polish brewer Browar Dojlidy Sp. z o.o. (Dojlidy) and an outstanding shareholder loan from Radeberger Gruppe AG for a cash consideration of EUR 35.15 million (about US$37.89 million). The acquisition is conditional upon the satisfactory completion of a due diligence review by Kompania Piwowarska and the approval of the Polish Office for Protection of Competition and Consumers and the Ministry of Interior.

"This acquisition, which further consolidates our operations in Poland, gives us the opportunity to grow Dojlidy's core brands across our existing distribution platform. It builds on our strategy of optimising and expanding our established positions in developing markets and we anticipate additional benefits, such as procurement and distribution synergies, from integrating the business into KP,'' Graham Mackay, Chief Executive of SABMiller said.

Dojlidy has one brewery, located in Bialystok in the north east of Poland, some 200 kilometres from Warsaw. The company currently has an annual capacity of some 900,000 hectolitres and annual sales of 734,000 hectolitres. Dojlidy will become KP's third brewery in Poland, joining its other breweries in Poznan and Tyskie. Dojlidy's main brands are Zubr, Classic and Zlote, which have a strong presence in its home region. Dojlidy will give KP improved access to consumers in the north and east of Poland and will enhance KP's brand portfolio in the economy segment.

SABMiller entered Poland in 1996 buying an initial 27.5% stake in Lech Browary Wielkopolski (Lech) from the Polish company Euro Agro Centrum (EAC). In October 1996, SABMiller together with EAC, acquired 52% of Browary Tyskie Gorny Slask SA (Tyskie). Between 1996 and 1999, SABMiller increased its effective interest in both companies through capitalisations and acquisitions of additional shareholdings from EAC and other smaller shareholders. In 1999, Lech and Tyskie were merged into a single entity consisting of two operating breweries and a combined distribution system for the Lech and Tyskie brands forming Kompania Piwowarska SA (KP). Currently, SABMiller has an effective 72% interest in KP.

KP's output in the year ended 31 March 2002 in Poland was 7.6 million hectolitres, being approximately 31% of the total market.

SABMiller is the world's second largest brewer by volume with pro forma 2001/02 lager volumes in excess of 120 million hectolitres and is also the world's leading brewer in developing markets. It has 115 brewing operations and over 69,000 employees, in 24 countries across Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, North and Central America and Asia. It has a portfolio of strong brands and leading market shares in many of the countries in which it has brewing operations. Outside the USA, SABMiller is one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products in the world.


05 February, 2003