27th May 2005 10:30
SABMiller PLC27 May 2005 Ref: 11/2005 SABMILLER INCREASES STAKE IN INDIAN BREWING BUSINESS TO 99% London and Johannesburg, 27 May 2005. SABMiller plc announces that its Indiansubsidiary, MBL Investments ('Mysore'), has acquired the Shaw Wallace Group's50% interest in the brewing operations of SABMiller's Indian joint-venture.Mysore now owns 99% of the brewing operations with the balance of shares held bythird party minority investors. These operations constitute India's secondlargest brewer. The Indian joint-venture was formed in May 2003 through a strategic agreementbetween SABMiller's Mysore Breweries Limited and the Shaw Wallace Group. Thebrewing operations in India comprise 10 breweries which supply the wholecountry. Its key brands include Hayward's 5000, the leading beer brand in therapidly-growing strong beer segment; Royal Challenge Premium Lager, thesecond-largest and fastest growing mild beer in the country; Knock-Out andCastle Lager. In the year to the end of March 2005, the brewing operations increased volumesto 2.4 million hectolitres, up 12% on the prior year. Upon completion of thetransaction, the brewing operations had net assets of US$37 million. Andre Parker, SABMiller's Africa & Asia managing director, commented: "Beer consumption in India remains at around 1 litre per person per year, whichcompares to levels of around 20 litres in comparable developing markets. With apopulation in excess of 1 billion, and GDP growth of over 6%, India has theeconomic potential to be a leading global beer market. SABMiller is wellplaced to benefit from this future growth and to participate in further Indianbeer market consolidation." SABMiller has operated in India since October 2000, when it bought the NarangBreweries, located near Lucknow, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In June 2001,SABMiller acquired a controlling interest in Mysore Breweries Limited.Subsequently Mysore Breweries Limited has made other acquisitions in otherbrewing operations in India and later in May 2003, Mysore Breweries Limitedentered into a strategic 50:50 joint venture with the Shaw Wallace Group ofIndia. Notes to editors: SABMiller plc SABMiller plc is one of the world's largest brewers, with 2004/05 lager salesvolumes in excess of 148 million hectolitres. It has a brewing presence in over40 countries across four continents and a portfolio of strong brands and leadingmarket shares in many of the countries in which it has brewing operations.Outside the USA, SABMiller plc is one of the largest bottlers of Coca-Colaproducts in the world. In the year ended 31 March 2005, the group generated US$2,194 million pre-taxprofit from a turnover of US$14,543 million. SABMiller plc is listed on theLondon and Johannesburg stock exchanges. The Indian Beer Market Currently, the total Indian beer market is still small with annual sales ofaround 7 million hectolitres, but has been growing rapidly over the last 10years. This trend is continuing and overall market growth is estimatedcurrently to be some 6% - 7% on an annualised basis. The Indian brewingindustry remains highly regulated and beer is categorised with other alcoholicproducts for licensing and taxation purposes. Strong beer (alcohol by volume of 5% - 8%) accounts for 65% of the total beermarket and the key beer consuming states are Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, TamilNadu, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Per capita consumption of 0.7litres is low, emphasising the significant growth potential in a country with apopulation in excess of one billion people. Key drivers of high growth include rising gross domestic product, favourabledemographics, changing lifestyles, and the opportunity to grow per capitaconsumption together with potential deregulation of the Indian beer industry. This announcement is available on the SABMiller website, www.sabmiller.com High resolution images are available for the media to view and download free ofcharge from www.vismedia.co.uk Enquiries: SABMiller plc Tel: +44 20 7659 0100 Sue Clark Director of Corporate Affairs Tel: +44 20 7659 0184 Gary Leibowitz Vice President, Investor Relations Tel. +44 20 7659 0119 Mob: +44 7717 428540 Nigel Fairbrass Head of Media Relations Tel: +44 20 7659 0105 Mob: +44 7799 894265 This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or issue or thesolicitation of an offer to buy or acquire securities of SABMiller plc (the"Company") or any of its affiliates in any jurisdiction or an inducement toenter into investment activity. This document includes "forward-looking statements". These statements maycontain the words "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect" andwords of similar meaning. All statements other than statements of historicalfacts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, thoseregarding the Company's financial position, business strategy, plans andobjectives of management for future operations (including development plans andobjectives relating to the Company's products and services) are forward-lookingstatements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,uncertainties and other important factors that could cause the actual results,performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different fromfuture results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by suchforward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based onnumerous assumptions regarding the Company's present and future businessstrategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future.These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminateany updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in thisannouncement to reflect any change in the Company's expectations with regardthereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any suchstatement is based. Any information contained in this announcement on the price at which theCompany's securities have been bought or sold in the past, or on the yield onsuch securities, should not be relied upon as a guide to future performance. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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